Mind Over Matter 4 The Message
by runa216
Summary: Gordon is getting the same messages that Cassie was. why? we don't know. is he psychic, or what? we know Cassie is sub-temporarily bounded, so what is the problem with gordon? well, this was modeled after the Message, so don't hate me.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
My name is Gordon, and I must say, I guess that little bit is a little useless. I am dead, and the world knows it.  
  
Actually, I am not dead, or I would not be writing this right now. The reason I have to tell you this is because I am no longer in society for a reason. That reason is aliens. I know, laugh it up, put the guy in the insane asylum. But it is true.  
  
I was once a prosperous child. I was always active, and did well in school. I mostly kept to myself excluding a little circle of friends. Those friends included, Sam, Whitney, Will, Kevin, Stacey, Curt, and Amanda.  
  
Now I travel with a different crowd. We call ourselves Animorphs. We are trying to save the world. I accent on the 'trying' part. So far we aren't doing a phenomenal job. The most we've done is wreck one ship up really good, that's about it. It was a supply ship, if that means anything at all.  
  
We've collected and analysed a lot of info so far. We have also shown them that we know of them. We consist of eight units. Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Whitney, Sam and I. We fight this war like soldiers, only we have real lives behind it all.  
  
You see, these aliens, Yeerks, they're called, are actually smart. They have chosen the infiltration path, rather than the WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU MA'AM! Approach with guns blazing, and thank god for that. The aliens are much higher on the technology food chain than we are. They actually have faster than light travel and beam guns. All we have is the cinnamon bun....oops, not there yet! Sorry.  
  
These yeerks can control us, and not by mind altering drugs or technology, but they can physically take over our bodies and control us. You see, they are slugs that can crawl into your brain and attach themselves to the neurons in your brain. This not only allows them to control the movements you make by altering the brain messages to do as they please, but they can also read anything that your mind has stored. They can read you like a book, allowing them access to your thoughts and emotions, which means they can play you in society really easily.  
  
Their one great weakness is that since they are inside human hosts, they can't get nutrients from our physical bodies by eating. They have to exit the host and swim in the yeerk pool. This is a massive underground complex with a lake in it. The lake contains a sludge that gives the yeerk the nutrients it needs. They need to do this every three earth days or they die. Plain and simple, they wither up and die.  
  
We have attacked that pool, but the complex was so big it was like attacking a military base, so we were unsuccessful.  
  
Now, I bet you are asking how we fight, well, let's say this. The seven of us, Sam not included, were given a gift and a curse. The power to morph. This power was given to us by the andalites. Blue centaurs with no mouths, eyes that can look in all directions, and a whip-like tail that can move faster than lighting. They are deadly.  
  
The morphing gift was not a thing they were born with, it is a technology that they made. They just pass it off to us human kids. To morph, we have to touch an animal to get a DNA sample. Then, we morph into it. It seems simple, but there are side effects and drawbacks. You see, if you stay in morph for more than 2 hours and seven minutes, you stay forever. I know you don't like the number, but I doubt that alien hours are the same as ours, besides, I didn't make it up. Either way, we have had casualties regarding this.  
  
The other side effect is that any injury our natural body or the one we morphed can be healed by demorphing or morphing. My theory is that a decapitated head could regenerate given the right circumstances, but I do not wish to test my theory out.  
  
All but Sam were there to receive the gift. We were all walking through the construction site across from the mall when an andalite spaceship stopped not too far away from us. We went to inspect it, and found an andalite named Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. He was the one who gave us the power. He was mortally wounded and was being chased to the earth's surface by the Yeerk leader, Visser Three.  
  
He did it all in spite of V3, so he could keep his legacy going after all this was over. After that, we all stood by while Visser three morphed a beast from another world and ate him. Yes, ate him. Visser three was the only yeerk to capture an andalite and enslave them, so he is the only yeerk to morph.  
  
Along with him to assist in the slaughter were a bunch of hork bajir. A peaceful people, so we're told. They are 7 foot tall reptiles with blades at their elbows, knees, neck, and tail. They have three jointed legs that allow for some fast running and high jumps. I would think that three joints would be a pain, but oh well, I have been one, and they work just fine.  
  
Then there was the taxxons. Just big-ass centipedes, really. Cannibalistic centipedes with an everlasting thirst for blood and meat. We don't see them much because they are mostly pilots and such. The hork bajir do all the dirty work.  
  
Well, after that, we did some research to see that there was a little family club called the sharing that was supposed to be a cover recruit centre. On the surface, it was a club to get together and belong to a group. It really coaxed you into believing that a slug in your head would be a big thing to help your ego or something. Apparently, It works. I personally don't see how.  
  
"Okay class, now, everyone put this slug in your ear. It will make you belong." Right, just like cigarettes. But I guess cigarettes worked, so I guess belonging was a big deal in this world, no matter the price. I guess psychology works.  
  
After that, we went down to the yeerk pool to help capture Jakes, brother, Tom, who was a controller. That is what we call a yeerk's host. We failed miserably, and when we got out, two things happened. When I got home, the yeerks were carrying away my mom and little brother. They knew who I was, so it was only a matter of time before they found the others. Apparently, all they got for friends of mine was Sam and Tobias.  
  
Tobias, unfortunately/fortunately, was trapped as a red-tail hawk, so he had no home anymore. He was safe. I did the selfish thing and said we needed to save Sam. That's right Gordon, risk the world for one person. I guess Neo did the same thing, but oh well.  
  
We saved him only to find that he probably knew much more than we had anticipated. He had been spying in on meetings and knew quite a bit about the yeerk hierarchy and the history. He proved to be useful with guns and bombs too. He was also very critical of us as we were to him. You see, in a world where anyone can be anything, you pick your shots and be safe. I guess I don't blame him for trying to kill us all when we first got him. He thought we were yeerks.  
  
So we held him for three days to kill the yeerk, but there was no yeerk, so we were safe.  
  
All in all, to this day, I only have speculations as to what made me be captured. The best I can figure is that they found and identified my bike or the little patch of blood I left them. Either way, I was comfortable with my new life.  
  
You see, Whitney is a computer genius and has contacts in high society, so she got me a diver's license and a job. I work there full hours and can pay for mine and Sam's little shack in the woods. I can morph to this punk I acquired a long time ago for two hours at a time. I get about 300 dollars a week, that keeps us in supplies and clothes, so we are well off.  
  
Whitney is a genius, like me, only she uses it. You see, I have an IQ in the 180's or so I'm told, but I don't do well in class because of a little head butting with the teachers. It gets really irritating when an art teacher tells you how to do your art project. But either way. Whitney is short and has strong beliefs. Best way to describe her, small on the outside, big on the inside. She is pretty cool.  
  
Jake is our leader. He is the one guy who can think on his toes. He is a really responsible and takes many things into consideration before making a decision. Good guy, really. He is a big guy, not football big, but bit nonetheless. Like me, only he is much taller.  
  
Jake is kinda hitched with Cassie. She is the biggest environmental nut the world has ever seen. She lives on a farm and has two vet parents, so you can probably figure out why she likes animals. She has very strong views, and is not easily shaken by anything. I like her. She is African- American, but that doesn't matter, it never has for me.  
  
Jake's cousin, and Cassie's best friend is Rachel. She is cool, I really like her. As Marco would call her, Xena is a warrior princess. Rachel may be tall and blonde, but don't let the look fool you. She can be very angry at times, don't get in her way. I know. She likes to fight, no matter what. As log as there is a good cause, she will go in there ripping people's faces off to help. She is a born fighter.  
  
Marco is Jakes best friend. Him and Jake play video-games all the time. Marco is better, but that comes from his very analytical mind. He is always three steps ahead in terms of strategy, but he can sometimes be cold hearted. He likes the direct path to granny's house, not worrying about the flowers. I can understand his reasoning, which has many people think I am heartless, but I understand the meaning of sacrifices.  
  
Not to say I am completely reckless. I actually prefer not to fight, other than to goof around. I hate the concept of killing something that doesn't even have a choice in the matter. It is wrong, but Casualties may occur. All is fair in love and war.  
  
Now, Sam is interesting. You don't know why yet, but he is the best person to have in a fight. You see, he has telekinesis. And not the Jedi general telekinesis that randomly throws objects across the room, no, this is truly hard-core. You see, he can manipulate a lot of things. Like, for example, have you ever seen X-men? Well, think Pyro, he can manipulate already existing fire. It can be a cool effect, but it can't be too big or he can't concentrate on all of it. There are limits.  
  
He can also lift and manipulate things all the time. He even learned to fly just recently. He can 'grab' himself and hurl himself across the sky, to fly. I don't know about all the details, that is just the way Sam put it. He is vague.  
  
Anyway, Sam is what is considered a lone wolf. He works alone, and can be deadly. He has vast knowledge of anything dangerous, and is good at using it. He acquired the name 'God' from fellow gamers because of his incredible ability as a sniper. Like I said, he works alone and is good at it. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Well, there isn't much more to say. All that is left is me, but I am a weird one. How can I describe myself to you when I don't even know what is going on? Anyway, I will give it a shot.  
  
You see, I apparently have powers that nobody understands. Now, I can't explain it, but I will try to sum it up from the limited knowledge I do have. You see, I seem to be psychic. I have talked to Sam after one of our many training sessions. He says that I have abilities.  
  
The way he put it was that I could read people's surface thoughts. I found it crazy at first, but he explained it to me. The way he put it was that I was countering moves before he did them. I knew where to and where not to be at all times, it was freaking him out.  
  
Sam also said that I have telekinesis. I beg to differ. I have never used it, so how could I have it. It is like a tail, I don't have it, so who thinks I am using it. All I know is that Sam said that he saw my eyes glow a few times. Just like his, only my eyes were blue, his were bloodred. I think it has something to do with the eye colour. My eyes are blue and his were red-brown, so who knows.  
  
At first I didn't believe him but he convinced me. He told me about how anything that had telekinesis being used on it, it glowed in the colour of the eyes. You see, in one of our recent fights, I could see the rocks he was using turn bright blue. He said his were red. That really got my attention.  
  
On top of all this, I was the only one who could use telepathy outside of morph. Everyone else could only use the telepathy in morph, but I was able to use it outside of morph. I also tend to pick up thought speak that I'm not supposed to hear. It was really weird. I was able to listen in on things that weren't meant for me. At some times, at least when I concentrated on it. I have only done it a few times, but it is weird.  
  
To go on top of all that crap, I have been having dreams. Weird ones. These dreams are very realistic, they actually have me convinced that I am there, doing those things. It was all fine and dandy until they started getting closer to plausibility. Many of them didn't seem realistic, maybe wishful thinking, but you could tell it was one of those dreams. They had a totally different feel. But me taking on an entire army of hork bajir? Right.  
  
It was all harmless, until about three of them came true. Little things, but they followed the exact path. Even them, I was sceptical. I dismissed it as an extreme case of deja vu. But they kept persisting, and it got annoying. It was almost as if I could see the future. It was freaky, but I kept it to myself, thought it was better that way.  
  
That was until the same one kept persisting. It was of the ocean, with rolling waves and fishes, and water, of course. The dream was me flying inches above the water. I was hearing something, but didn't, couldn't understand what was being said until I got there.  
  
It was a voice calling for help. That was about as much as I got at first, but I eventually started getting hints of actual words.  
  
{Help me, I am in trouble, my life could end at any moment, please help me.}  
  
It was an andalite, I could tell that by the sound of the voice. It was weird, I had only ever heard two andalites speak, Visser Three and Elfangor. This one sounded vaguely similar to Elfangor, and it was desperate. It was also repetitive.  
  
{Help me! Help me!} like the guy off the fly. Really irritating. By the time I stopped dreaming, I could make a giant circle shape under the water. Then I would wake up.  
  
Overall, the dreams were odd and irritating, but I was dealing with it.  
  
One night, after a particularly realistic dream, I woke up to see that it was probably three in the morning. I checked my new watch. It read, 1:52 AM. I rolled over. Oh, Crap, gotta get back to bed now. I thought to myself.  
  
I tired to go back to sleep, but it was completely in vain. After about ten minutes of rolling around, I gave up and got some clothes on and left the house. (No, I wasn't naked, I was sleeping in the same big room with another guy. I had some boxers on.)  
  
Unfortunately, we live out in the woods, so there is absolutely no artificial light whatsoever. All we had was the stars and moon, which happened to be out in force tonight.  
  
I waled along the meadow adjacent to our house for a while before giving up and making my way back to civilization. I though, oh, what the heck, I wasn't tired, so I might as well raid a seven-eleven.  
  
I walked through the empty, dark forest, trying to interpret the dream onca again. Once again, not coming to any new conclusion. Plus, the forest was full of distraction. The rustling bushes. Al the bugs, and the occasional howling. It was almost scary, except I was wilderness-smart. I knew the basics in wilderness trekking. 'Stay away from them and they will stay away from you.' It worked so far, so I wasn't worried.  
  
After about half an hour of walking, I finally made it to Cassie's barn to be greeted with surprise.  
  
{AAAH! Tobias!} Cassie yelled at Tobias.  
  
{Sorry, just thought you were a regular squirrel.} he replied. He sounded embarrassed.  
  
{Well, I would like to know what you were doing hunting in my barn.} Cassie said accusingly. {Eating my patients, now, are we?}  
  
{No, I was just heard some commotion. When I didn't see anything, I saw you, thinking you were a squirrel. I'm awfully sorry.}  
  
There was no reply. Cassie must have demorphed, because I couldn't hear her response. Knowing Cassie, it would be something simple, like 'it's okay, jus be more careful, and please don't eat me.'  
  
You see, Tobias just recently got in touch with his avian side. When he first got trapped he was being fed burgers and stuff from Jake and Rachel's attic. One day he was not paying attention and killed a mouse on instinct. He went crazy and vanished from existence for three days. He had felt he lost himself in the bird, but we were all there, so he felt at home now.  
  
I decided to see what was going on. I went up to the barn gate and knocked on it. "Hello, Cassie!" I called quietly, not to disturb her parents.  
  
Cassie came up and opened up the door, holding her chest. "Whoa, you scared me for a minute." She said.  
  
I shrugged. "Sorry, was out strolling the neighbourhood. Couldn't sleep."  
  
"I see. Well, I guess none of us can. We are all here out of lack of sleep, let's start a club." She said jokingly. "Weird dreams been keeping me up for the last couple days."  
  
"Yeah, me too." I said.  
  
{I didn't think birds could dream, but I guess I was wrong. I was having a weird ass dream about the ocean. I woke up because I can't feel right over water.} Tobias said. He kind of shuddered.  
  
"Yeah, me too. The ocean is really intimidating. It is so big and we are so small." Cassie said.  
  
"What do you mean, me too?" I asked. "Do you mean that the ocean bothers you too, or that you were having the same dream. The one where someone is calling?"  
  
She was thinking about it when suddenly she stopped. She stared at me, then Tobias. "From under the water, right?" She asked.  
  
{Yeah, in thought speech.} Tobias said.  
  
I froze. It was warm in the barn, but suddenly I felt cold. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
We were all sitting in Rachel's room, discussing the issues at hand. "Nope, no dreams for me." Marco said. "At least not about the sea. Well, most dreams about the sea that I have is usually about Baywatch. That Yasmine Bleeth is really a looker."  
  
"You are one sad, strange little man." Rachel said. "You need a life, or better yet, a girlfriend."  
  
"I know, but all the good ones are taken." Marco said.  
  
I was looking around Rachel's room. I had never been to Rachel's house. Before this whole war, I didn't really know her. I didn't know how incredibly smart she was. In one corner was a computer. The other side was a her dresser, which had an impressive collection of beauty products. She barely used them, but they were there, just in case.  
  
Her room was quite big, actually. Bigger than mine, anyways. You could see why she did so well in classes and stuff. She had post it's and stuff all over the place.  
  
I was in my morphing outfit because if anyone saw me in my natural form. I had to morph with Tobias to get here, to be safe.  
  
Marco, Jake, Rachel, Cassie and Whitney were all in the room. Tobias was out, watching to make sure nobody came in unsuspected. What a life, eh? We are always living under a shell, and all events were monitored. I could get away easily, but the others would have to explain themselves, plus I guess there was something Jake wanted to show us.  
  
"How about you, Whit?" I asked. "Anything from your place? Any sea dreams?"  
  
"Maybe, I do need more info." She said.  
  
"Like what?" Cassie asked.  
  
"What is happening in the dream? I am having dreams, but they are very brief. The way you guys are describing it, it seems real, but these are simply recurring dreams."  
  
"Well, I can see over the ocean as someone is calling for help. They are obviously underwater, but I can never see them." Cassie explained.  
  
"I can see, it is an andalite, I am sure of it." I told them. "And I can see the vague outline of a big circular thing underwater before I wake up."  
  
"That's just good for you, ever consider the thought that maybe it is all coincidence?" Marco asked skeptically. "I mean, come on, how many people have the dream where they are running and can't go anywhere. How many people have a dream about the same thing. Maybe on top of that, they look completely different to each of you. Personally, I don't want to go out to the ocean looking for something that may not exist. So I say we leave it alone."  
  
I shook my head. Marco was wrong. "Cassie, Tobias and I all discussed it amongst ourselves and we have al decided that it is exactly the same. It is too close to be a coincidence."  
  
"Even so, where in the ocean would it be? We have the entire pacific ocean out there, who's to say it isn't by Greenland or Australia? It is too risky."  
  
Rachel piped in, "It may be risky, but we need to at least try. I mean, there is so much possibilities. Who knows, maybe it is just a mile out from the shore. Hell, maybe we could swim there." I noticed Rachel was being very optimistic about this.  
  
I looked around the room again. Nobody said anything at all. Jake was still just sitting there, observing the group of us. Apparently Marco had won this one, he had a point.  
  
I got up, feeling defeat. We weren't going to be doing anything about this today. I looked at some of the post it's on Rachel's dresser.  
  
'Don't think there were no crocodiles because the water is calm.' -Malaysian proverb.  
  
I continued scrolling until I found something that interested me. 'Keep fighting until you have nothing left, then keep fighting. You only live once.' -Me. And it was true. That was the way Rachel lived her life. I instantly gained a hell of a lot of respect for that girl right then. She was in a way the way I wanted to be. I thought this was quite a revelation.  
  
I picked up a pen and wrote on one of the post it's. 'The object of flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.' Unknown. I had heard that somewhere, but couldn't remember where. I thought it was funny.  
  
'Smoke a bong of fruit loops.' I posted. I thought that was a good one, so I continued to put a few. Nobody was talking, so I used this time to write a few more.  
  
'Don't take life too seriously, you will never get out alive.' -Van wilder. 'Eat right, exercise, be a vegetarian, die anyway.' -Gordon. 'Enjoy life, there is plenty of time to be dead.' -Gordon.  
  
"Coming?" Rachel asked as she left the room. Apparently, the group had been moved down to the living room while I was doing the quotes.  
  
"Just a second." I called. I finished up the last quote out of spite. 'The surest sign of intelligent life beyond earth is that they haven't tried to contact us!' -Gordon.  
  
I posted them and went downstairs to join up with everyone else. Jake was bringing out a tape from a bag he brought.  
  
"Okay, this is the clincher, so please, everyone pay attention. I saw this last night at six and decided to tape it at eleven. I got most of it, but the tape runs out before it is over. You get the majority of the report, though." Jake popped the tape into the VCR. It was amazing to see that people still had those things.  
  
"Where's the popcorn?" I asked. Everyone laughed.  
  
"You eat enough as it is." Whitney said, then laughed some more.  
  
The reporter came on the screen. "We are live on the scene, as the wreckage crews are retrieving some of the metal." The screen switches to the beach, where a good sized portion of what appeared to be an andalite fighter. It was remarkably similar to Elfangor's ship, only it was completely torn to shreds. "What appears to be the remnants of a boat have washed ashore." The reporter continued. "We are not yet sure of the location of the occupants, no missing people have disappeared within a month, so it's origin is yet unknown. We have some pieces of scrap that was inside it." The camera panned back to an old man holding a chunk of the wreckage.  
  
"You see that lettering, it is exactly the same as the stuff I saw when I went into the andalite's ship." Jake said. I looked, but could only see little dark lines. A mix of swirls and straight lines. "Plus, the wreck looks like Elfangor's fighter. I think that you were both right, and something is out there."  
  
The tape continued to play, but just stopped. "That's the end of the tape." Jake got up and got the tape out of the VCR.  
  
I nodded my head. We were going in after all! "So, this is it. We all know that the yeerks are going to be all over this, and they will know where it came from. All we have to do is follow them out and try to find it for ourselves before they do."  
  
"I guess, but can't an andalite take care of himself?" Marco asked. "They are, after all the masters of the galaxy."  
  
"We still need to help, maybe he could be useful." Rachel suggested.  
  
"Let's go. We need to see if anything is planned so far, like regarding the whole spaceship thing." Jake said. We all agreed and left our own ways.  
  
I got back and told Sam all the events. He seemed to be intrigued. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Later that night, we were all on the cliffs by the beach. It was everyone tonight, even Sam. Tobias was in the air. We knew that there would probably be people there, but we had to do this. We needed to know what was going on, ans if we could exploit it. We suspected that there would be cops, controllers, and civilians, so we knew this would be the place tonight.  
  
So we decided to drop in and give them a line.  
  
"So, what makes you think that there will be people here?" Marco asked.  
  
I sighed, "I can hear them over the dunes, I wouldn't say that is my imagination. Just over the cliffs is the beach where the andalite fighter was. Don't worry, I know how to use my ears." I was pretty mad, Marco was being an idiot, while we were trying to do our business.  
  
We all walked over to the cliffs and looked over. There was a surprisingly small crowd. It all appeared to be members of 'the sharing'. These weren't civilians, these were yeerks, which made it completely clear that this was an andalite spacecraft.  
  
"Wow, got the big guys here today." Marco said.  
  
"Well, this seems to be a big thing." Jake said. "I think it is safe to say that this is a big deal."  
  
"I think we have proved our point, we need to get out of here." Whitney said. We all agreed.  
  
{I would be moving quickly too.} Tobias urged. {it is vague, but I can see about five guys coming your way.}  
  
"Gotcha. Let's go." Jake answered.  
  
We all started walking away quietly.  
  
"I heard some voices over there." I heard a voice say from over on the other side of the tree-line.  
  
"Guys, I think we need to be leaving now." Jake said. "Head for the dunes."  
  
We all did that and made our ways to the dunes. We were slowly running when I heard a voice shouting from behind. "It's kids, get them!" It was vice principal chapman. He sounded a bit different, but overall sounded the same.  
  
I looked back and saw that Sam was missing.  
  
"Guys, Sam is gone!" I whispered.  
  
"Okay, just head for the water, no need for alarm. Morph to fish." Jake said. Unfortunately, before we got there, I heard a loud booming sound. BOOM! BOOM! They were shooting at us.  
  
We all ran to the water's edge dived in, and submerged our heads. Quite frankly, I didn't need anyone recognizing me or anyone else. They continued to shoot at us.  
  
I immediately morphed to fish, feeling the dread, wondering where Sam was. If he fought with the guys who were chasing us, they would know that he was in arms with humans, and that would lead them to find us. I only hoped he had enough sense to just escape.  
  
{Sam, don't fight, just escape!} I pleaded. I was the only one who could use thought speak out of morph. We weren't far enough in morph to use thought speak yet.  
  
As I morphed, a little thought that was in my head became more and more apparent. Freshwater fish couldn't live in the sea. I could feel my gills burning and stinging, even before I finished the morph. I was a little ahead of the others, except Cassie, so I warned them. {Guys, this will hurt the gills.}  
  
{No duh!} Marco replied.  
  
{It does hurt a bit more than expected.} Whitney commented as she finished the morph.  
  
We were all in fish morph, swimming away from the pursuers. Slowly making our way through the stinging water. The salt was enough to make you go insane. It was constant and irritating. {Just keep going until Tobias says they are gone.} Jake advised. Nobody argued.  
  
{They're still looking, and examining the footprints. Said something about us definitely being human, and maybe the Visser was wrong. They also said they were not going to be the one to tell the Visser he was wrong.} ten minutes passed, before Tobias gave us the go-ahead. {Okay, they are leaving, saying something about making up an excuse and pretending it never happened.}  
  
{That doesn't make sense.} Marco said. {In this world, there could be so many consequences. That doesn't sound right.}  
  
{I know, but that is what they said.} Tobias informed us.  
  
{Consider this, they are low-level yeerks. They are probably just trying to cut themselves a break, like any blue collar businessman.} Whitney suggested.  
  
Cassie sighed. {Let's hope so. Tobias, are you sure they are nowhere in sight?}  
  
{Positive.} he answered with confidence. So we all swam to shore, burning gills and all. By that point we had gotten used to the pain.  
  
We all demorphed. I saw Rachel there, kind of in a trance. "What's wrong?" I asked.  
  
"I don't know." She answered. "It was weird. We had been shot at by so many things. We have had our lives threatened by much more dangerous things, but those guns really set the adrenaline flowing. It was like being in a movie, only it was real."  
  
I smiled. "I know what you are feeling, but we have to get home. Where's Sam?" I asked. Nobody knew. "Shit, I hope he went home. I don't need him causing trouble on the beach down there. We need to stay conspicuous."  
  
"Either way, we really need to go." Jake advised. We decided to walk home. We all separate and went our own ways. On the way home, I had Tobias fly down onto a nearby tree.  
  
{I saw Sam.} he said. {Floating up above me. I hope he never loses control and falls. That is dangerous, he should keep his feet on the ground.}  
  
"I agree, but he is fine as it is. Let's go home."  
  
When we got there, sam was already sitting there. "What took you so long?" He asked.  
  
"I was walking. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to fly, like some individuals." I answered sarcastically.  
  
"Actually, you do, just not the same way." He contradicted.  
  
"Oh well. Anyway, I have decided that we need to get more cheap clothes."  
  
"Why?" He asked.  
  
I stared down at my body. "Look at me. I have left yet another set of clothes at the site. I bet they will put two and two together. It is funny. I am the one with the least clothes and no parents to cover for me and I am the only one who decides to wear clothes to a place where I know I will be morphing. I am kind of an idiot."  
  
Sam laughed. "You said it, not me."  
  
I just laughed. It was late, so we went to bed. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
That week at work, a lot of things happened. A lot of people got fired and a few got hired. A lot of changes were happening.  
  
To begin, Brennan was going to be working Full-time every day. He was accepted to all the colleges he applied to, so he quit high school and decided to save up some money. (Unfortunately for him, they were all policing schools, so he had to quit doing all his drugs. Boo hoo.)  
  
Kevin, Van Schlopen, and Matt all still worked all day, but Kevin was more of a small time trucker there now. We also got another full time guy named Bill. I really didn't like him. He was there only two days before getting promoted and he knew absolutely nothing about the job. And he tried to boss me around, but I ended that real soon. I put him in his place.  
  
And all the part time boys had to quit for school reasons. Kind of a bummer, but oh well. We could do without them. It was just the five of us now. And Kiers, of course.  
  
So, I was lucky. I was still getting decent hours, and I still got out at the same time. I really liked that job. The people were great, except for Bill, he was quite the arrogant bastard. Oh well, I would just have to kill him one day.... oops, did I say that?  
  
That week, we had decided that I would be the designated Unloader. That was my position. You see, what I did was deal with all the paperwork. I unpacked the trailer and sorted it up into the different orders. I also checked the item number so we knew we had the right piece. Nobody else wanted to do that, so I got stuck with it.  
  
Not to say I can't do anything else, I am good at everything, but I am better than anyone else at that, and that position was very important.  
  
Other than that, the week was pretty boring at work.  
  
After work on Wednesday, I decided to see how my family was doing. I thought it was about time to make sure they were okay.  
  
I morphed to peregrine falcon and flew in the cool night air, waiting for it to be dark enough. I eventually flew down onto the neighbour across the road's house and demorphed on their roof. The roof was fine, so I sat on it.  
  
As I sat there, watching my family go on about their business, I noticed that something was definitely wrong. First of all, my mom wasn't yelling or telling Sam everything he did was wrong. And Sam wasn't being a PITA. (Pain in the Ass). He was quietly sitting there, doing his homework.  
  
And worst of all, mom wasn't on the computer. She was actually doing housework. It was a conspiracy, I tell you. My first thought was that the yeerks were doing a bad job at acting like the host. This was not the way they were.  
  
Then I saw the reason. Dad was home. It was Tuesday, so he must hae come home early that part of the week. Everyone always behaves more when he was around. He must not be infested. I thought this because now that I think of it, they wouldn't need to act in their own home, just in public. Technically, they were acting for dad, because that was how they were when dad was around. Plus, Dad was on the road five days of the week, occasionally coming home Wednesday morning. This would kill the yeerk if it tried to stay in him all the time.  
  
I guess this proved a lot. I was sure that both mom and Sam were hosts now, and dad wasn't.  
  
And yes, I know how incredibly ironic it is that my brother has the same name as my best friend.  
  
I decided I had enough. I morphed back to Peregrine falcon just as Tobias flew in beside me. {Miss them?} he asked.  
  
{Do you miss yours?} I asked back.  
  
{Not really. I have nothing to miss. My parents are dead, and my aunt and uncle both shunned me. I kind of like being a bird. And that doesn't matter. You had a different relationship with your family.}  
  
If I had a human head, I would have shook it. {Actually, I had a pretty rough recent three years. Nothing compared to yours, but bad nonetheless. I never got to keep my money, I had no control over my own stuff that I bought. And I never got any thanks for the Gamecube, Games, TV, DVD player, and other assorted gifts I gave them. I know that doesn't seem too bad, but there is more to the story that I simply don't want to talk about right now.}  
  
{I see. Well, I came to get you because Sam wanted to see you. He is in town right now, on a tall building. He is waiting for you.}  
  
{All right. I guess I could do some city hopping right about now.} since I was long since completely morphed, I took off and followed Tobias to the big tall building.  
  
{Hey, how did you know I was here?} I asked.  
  
{I saw you come by here earlier. I could see you were still here when I flew past. Thankfully I caught you before you left.}  
  
I was having a surprisingly difficult time flying over the city. Even though there were still lingering thermals left over from the day, my wings were small and didn't pick enough of them up. The stars and moon were out in full swing.  
  
When we finally got there, Sam was sitting on the edge of the building, hanging his legs off the side. For a human, that looked really weird.  
  
I landed and demorphed. "So, you wan to enjoy the scenery?" I asked. "that's not like you."  
  
"I didn't come here to enjoy the city scape. I came here to show the world how much better I am than them." He said, then stood up. "You up for a duel?" He asked. I wasn't one to say no to a duel, but this was a really odd place.  
  
"Why do you want to have a duel here?" I asked. But I already knew.  
  
"Just for effect. Now, if only it would start raining." He said. How predictable.  
  
{I don't think this is a good idea. Sure, sam can fly his way out, but Gordon Can't morph quick enough before he squishes on the ground.} Tobias said.  
  
"Oh, don't worry." Sam said. He raised his hand and lifted me up. I was floating, not the normal push. He was actually holding me there. It was cool, because I was just floating there, it didn't feel like something was holding me there. It was different than before. "I am sorry, no matter how much I practice, I can't seem to get any better. You know how before, I always used to get better like every day, well, I am not getting any better. I have seemed to have hit a block. It is kind of a shame. I can use it to do different things now, though."  
  
He put me over the side of the building. I was kind of scared, but he seemed to have complete control, but then I started to fall. It was a rush, but he stopped me before I even had the chance to think about what was happening.  
  
He brought me back up and set me back up on the gravel. "Hey, what happened to your eyes?" I asked. For the first time, his eyes didn't glow the bright red that they normally do.  
  
"I can turn the light off if I want to. I just discovered that. It is not involuntarily. I have to actually think about it to stop it. I was simply hoping you would notice."  
  
I stopped him. "Okay, if we are going to have a duel, then please, no powers. You get me? No telekinesis, no fire, and no swords. Just a duel. That actually gives me a chance."  
  
He sighed. "Alright, I guess. But I am not going to take it easy on you." He warned.  
  
"I'm not worried."  
  
{Children.} Tobias laughed. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
"So we both agree on the rules?" I asked. "No powers, no dirty play, and anything is a weapon, short of these pebbles." I picked up a handful of the pebbles from on the roof. I didn't want him throwing them. Naturally or otherwise.  
  
"Fine, now let's fight." Sam answered.  
  
I shook my head. I was ready, and I knew he really wanted to fight. He was a victim to making things look cool. I could see him being killed willingly, as long as it looked cool.  
  
The reason he wanted rain was because he liked the effect of rain falling down his face. He liked the dramatic aspect. Not to say I don't like a cool dramatic fight, but I didn't see the reason to fight each other. Or the yeerks in that manner, either.  
  
But he wanted to fight, and he would. I knew it, so I decided to play along.  
  
Sam first came at me with a bunch of random punches. Like in each angle. I blocked them all with minimal effort. They were like all planned as a distraction. You could tell he knew they wouldn't hit me. As I blocked them, I backed up a bit, so he wouldn't get in too close.  
  
Then he tried to kick me in the chest. I blocked this and threw his leg off to the side. He stepped down and tried to use the momentum to try and punch me again. I turned out of the way and pushed him behind me. By the time I was facing him again, he was ready for me and was bringing up a foot to kick me in the face.  
  
I blocked this too, and kicked him in the chest. He blocked my foot too. He jumped up and tried to roundhouse kick me in the face, but I ducked under it. He landed and I stood up at the same time. He then kicked straight forward at my face. I backed away, but tripped and fell on my ass.  
  
He stepped forward, trying to step on me, but I rolled out of the way and pushed myself up into a standing position again. Sam immediately swung a fist at my face. I simply caught it and waited for the other one. I knew it was coming. When he swung, I caught it too. By now I was completely in control.  
  
With both of his hands caught by me, he sidestepped and kicked off a vent or something. I wasn't letting him go, so he used the leverage to kick me right in the chest, releasing him from my grasp and hurting me in the process. I quickly recovered by rolling backwards and getting back on my feet.  
  
When I got up, he was already running at me. I just dodged him and dashed for the same vent he kicked off of. It only took like two steps, but it was enough to tell him where I was going. I used the side of the vent for leverage and kicked off it, also getting more leverage from the radio tower or something that was right beside it. I was so high I could almost stand on his head, but instead I just kicked him. This one actually connected and he went relatively flying. I was very pleased.  
  
"Good one." He said as he got up. I was walking towards him, kind of in a cocky manner. But that's just me. I was on my toes anyway, because it was just like Sam to take every little opportunity.  
  
I was right, he immediately tried to uppercut me, Mortal Kombat style. I dodged it, of course, and the other hand was right there to swing at me. I backed away and grabbed his wrist, making sure to tighten my grip. He tried to punch me a few times with his remaining arm, but I just pushed them away from harm. I eventually just grabbed his other wrist, to keep him restrained.  
  
He wasn't going anywhere, so he stopped for a minute, to think. Unfortunately, when I was trying to read him, he got me with a sucker-knee to the gut. I fell to one knee, but still kept my grip tight, to keep him restrained.  
  
Unfortunately, this is what he wanted. He stepped on my knee, then on my shoulder, like a ladder and did a backflip. The tension in my wrists was painful, seeing as how he was actually on his feet, and his wrists were keeping mine bent. But I wasn't going to let go, I was a pit-bull. He then somersaulted onto his back and kicked me with both feet in the chest. I couldn't hold on any longer. I let go and fell back.  
  
{Cool!} I heard Tobias say from somewhere above. I was surprised he could still see. Hawks don't see well in the dark.  
  
I was on my back when he grabbed my legs and tried to get me in what us wrestlers call a lion tamer. He gets me on my back, grabs both legs under his arms and flips me on my stomach. This results with me on my stomach and my feet hovering somewhere above my head with Sam sitting on my back. Fortunately, I knew how to counter this. I splayed my arms and made it so he couldn't flip me on my stomach.  
  
I also bunched my strength into my mid-section and pushed off, making him fall on his ass. He still had my legs. He was pulling a 'me'. The pit-bull approach, so I brought myself up and flipped over his head.  
  
I got up and saw Sam getting up. It was almost a telekinesis moment, but he repressed it. I could see his eyes glow, then dim. Must be a spur- of-the-moment thing now. He wanted to win, I could tell. He readied himself by raising his fists. One behind his head, the other at waist level. He walked towards me slowly, cautiously. I walked toward him, too.  
  
Once we were within hitting range, be both unloaded a flurry of punches and kicks. It was dragon ball Z all over again. Kind of weird, but too fast to describe.  
  
Eventually, I stopped the trivial things and tried to land a good roundhouse kick. He ducked, and I kept going. I spun around, trying to land three kicks in a row. One to the head, a back roundhouse, and a back roundhouse sweep. All three missed. He dodged each one. Duck, duck, jump.  
  
Then, with me still crouching, Sam tried to punch straight down at me. I looked up and did a back roll, type thing that actually made his punch miss, and I also grabbed his arm with my legs and flipped him over. It was kind of cool. He ended up on his ass.  
  
He got up and came at me, more flying fists of fury. He eventually backed me up against some sort of vent or something. Not the same one as before. I was semi trapped, so I did what I normally did when I was trapped. Kicked as hard as I could to get away. This resulted with my foot planted firmly in Sam's chest. He went sprawling and eventually had to back somersault to get back on his feet.  
  
By this time, I had decided to jump onto the vent-thing, so when he ran at me, I would be able to slow him down a bit. Instead, it gave him leverage. Apparently, he could jump pretty high, even without his telekinesis. He landed smoothly on the platform and caught me off guard, still crouching there. I rolled onto my back and kicked him in the chest. He reeled and staggered, but didn't fall, so I vaulted on my hand and kicked him in the side with such force that he fell off the platform in a cool little rodeo side flip.  
  
I was up in a flash so that when he was steadied, I would jump off the platform and dropkick him in the face. Unfortunately he was one step ahead of me. He pushed my feet off to the side in such a way that I landed, mid-section down on his raised knee. It hurt a lot and definitely knocked the wind out of me.  
  
While I was down on the ground, coughing, he picked me up and continued to pummel me up against the wall. I was kind of dazed, so I could barely feel it. That was just the way I was. When I wasn't paying attention, I could see, hear, and feel nothing.  
  
When I did eventually come to, I was pissed. Why would Sam do something like that? It was just a game. I had a sudden flare of anger and when I raised my head, blue thunder clashed and Sam backed off real quick. I walked toward him, blocking any and all of his pitiful punches and kicks. I reached out and grabbed his neck, veins throbbing and anger raging. He would pay for his sucker punches.  
  
In another flash of blue thunder, I picked Sam up by the neck and waist and threw him into the little radio tower. I could do anything when I was mad. And I was plenty mad. I decided to call it quits when Sam jumped up and dashed behind me. His eyes were glowing red.  
  
Oh no, who does it have to come to this? I thought to myself as I could feel myself being picked up and thrown against the radio tower myself. I could feel some sweat fall down my back as I fell to the ground.  
  
{Gordon, I would morph, you have a bit of a problem.} Tobias urged. What could he want?  
  
"What?" I asked. "Come on, I am fine. Let's finish this fight" then I turned to Sam. "And no more Telekinesis."  
  
{No, you need to morph now, I mean it.} Tobias urged again. {You have a giant ass gash in your back, and you are bleeding all over the place. Morph now.}  
  
So that was the 'sweat'. I see. And I was also becoming very suddenly woozy, dizzy, and tired. Maybe Tobias was right. I began to morph the first animal that came to mind. I slowly changed into the Peregrine falcon that was inside of me. When I demorphed, I could see the patch of blood that I had left.  
  
When I saw Sam, I pointed my finger at him, "Look, I thought we had a deal. No telekinesis. Now I see that is all you have."  
  
Sam raised his hands in defence. "Look, when it al comes down to it, I need to practice that, because that will be what I use. And besides, I am telling you, you have telekinesis too. I could see it after you were stunned. Your eyes flashed blue, just like my eyes are red. Plus, you had strength equal to like three of you. You lifted me up with ease."  
  
"So, I have been like that since I was young. I can ignore pain and restraint when I am very pissed. I have always been like that. And you shouldn't have started pummelling me like that. That was just brutal."  
  
Sam was about to say something, when Tobias interfered. {You know, Gordon, you should know that the Yeerks will not hold anything back. You need awareness practice.}  
  
Sam nodded. "He may be right, but that wasn't why I did it. The beating was a catalyst. It was a way to get your juices flowing. I know you can do that, and I was the same. When something pissed me off, I could do some weird things, and I can see that in you. I know you have it, emotions are the trigger. I thought I would push you along."  
  
"What right do you have, I know I can't. I have been trying left, right, and centre, and it doesn't work. So lay off. You have no clue how much I would like that kind of thing, but I can't do it, so lay off."  
  
"Whatever, keep trying." He huffed.  
  
{Well, that was pretty cool.} Tobias said. {I have never seen you two so intense. It was like a scene from a cheesy American impersonation Japanese martial arts film. How do you do that?}  
  
"Lots of practice." I answered. "I have been doing stuff like that for years."  
  
"For me, it is the telekinesis. I wasn't using it, but ever since I discovered I had it, I have noticed an improvement in all my abilities. More strength, agility, and I have super fast reflexes. It is like some sort of side effect of the powers. I like it. It enhances me even though I am not using it." he must have noticed the bland stare I gave him when he mentioned that the telekinesis was the key to winning. I knew he was able to mask his glowy-eye syndrome.  
  
"What about the cut?" I asked. When I threw him against the tower, he landed in the same spots as me, yet there were no cuts. I was curious.  
  
"Didn't I tell you? I can also heal at an incredibly fast rate. It is pretty cool. Wolverine all over again. But I can keep blood in and fix the gash in an instant, see?" He turned around to show me his back. the clothes were ripped, but no blood. That would be so cool to be able to do that.  
  
We ended the night on a high note. We had both made advances and stuff. All arguments were off and we went back home. It was just the way we were. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Later that week, after school and work, we all made our way to the Gardens on the bus. We had no other means of transportation that we could use in public. The Gardens was a fairly big combination zoo/amusement park. Of course, it had all the usual attractions of both. There were many roller coasters and rides along with all the animals and attractions of a zoo.  
  
The main reason we were there was to acquire some dolphins. We needed fish morphs to swim way out into the ocean. We decided sharks weren't a good idea, too hard to get close to and we probably didn't need to get violent. I did try to convince them to do sharks, but Cassie said that dolphins were easier access.  
  
We were able to get in close to the dolphins because Cassie's mom was a leading vet in the zoo section. So we decided to come in and acquire them after one of the shows. We had to get Cassie to get us a schedule so those still intact with society were able to make plans around the show.  
  
We ended up going after supper. It was seven at night when we went. I, of course, had to morph to my wondrous alter ego, Josh Blanchett. Let's face it, if I was seen in public, I would end up causing a riot, knowing there would probably be controllers all over the place, and most everyone would probably know who I was. That would be tragic.  
  
Sam wasn't here, as far as I knew. So we were on the way.  
  
"So, who do you think would win, Superman or Batman?" Marco asked Jake.  
  
"Definitely Superman." Jake answered. "No contest."  
  
"I agree." I added. "Superman is incredibly fast, strong, and all super-alien. Bruce has money. Batman has no powers, just gadgets."  
  
Marco shook his head. "You are both wrong. Batman would so totally rule. He may not have any superpower, but he has money, the most real superpower of them all. The bill gates of superheros. Plus, he is smart. All he had to do was carry around some kryptonite and Superman would be powerless. I say Batman would win."  
  
{I would disagree. Superman can fly, and look what I can do. Definitely would be Superman. Us air dwellers have to stick together.} Tobias laughed. He was up above us, floating around.  
  
"You wish." Marco muttered.  
  
Meanwhile, Rachel and Cassie were having a conversation about whether or not vanity was important. We were all walking together, but were kind of apart. Off in our own little worlds. Whitney was kind of by herself. She didn't have much to say on either issue. Comics and vanity, two of her weaker subjects. I knew whit, she likes to think of vanity as an extra feature, but not on the top of her lists. I didn't know what she thought of comic books.  
  
I separated from Jake and Marco to talk to Whit. "So, how ya doing?" I asked. "You seem kind of quiet."  
  
"Just excited." She replied as a smile spread across her face. "I have always wanted to swim with dolphins, now I get to be one. I wonder what it will be like. I have all these possibilities, but I can't wait to see which one it is."  
  
"You too, huh?" I asked. "Actually, swimming with the dolphins was one of my life's to do list. That and travel the rain forest, swim in the great barrier reef, and go skydiving. I guess you could consider flying close to skydiving."  
  
"You are odd." Cassie said. "You have very different thoughts on life."  
  
"I know." I answered. "You have to have balance. Gotta have some good and some bad. Some peacefulness and some action. You got'sta have balance."  
  
"I just never saw that side of you. I knew you liked to fight, but I never knew you were so into nature."  
  
"Well, I guess it is only natural. It is where we came from to begin with." I said. "And besides, I can't wait to be a dolphin. I guess we are just going to have to wait to see what it is like. I heard they are incredibly smart."  
  
Marco moaned, "Oh no, it's tree hugger part 2." He rolled his eyes.  
  
"Shut up." I insisted. "We are all entitled to our own opinions." He rolled his eyes again.  
  
"I am kind of hesitant, though." Cassie said.  
  
"About what?" Rachel and Whitney both asked.  
  
"Well, if they are as smart as dolphins are, it is almost like we are stealing their bodies. You all know what it is like to morph. The mind comes along with the bodies, so how are we being polite by stealing bodies?"  
  
"I have never seen it that way, but I see where you are coming from." Whitney stated. "But I don't agree. You see, we aren't stealing their bodies, we are using them, and we aren't taking their free will. It is only instincts."  
  
"So it is okay to make a body to steal the minds?"  
  
I had to but in with what was to be the final argument. "I realize you generally look at the whole picture, including the fine print, but you are missing the bottom line. We need them to save the world. As protectors here, we are forced to use whatever materials necessary to fulfill that dream. And quite frankly, they won't be around much longer if we don't do something."  
  
She shrugged. "I guess you are right. And it would probably be fun anyway."  
  
So, we had all finally come to an agreement, and we were just on the outside of the sea show area. The gates were just emptying, due to the show that had just ended. Just like we had planned.  
  
"Let's go." Jake said. We all went into the aquarium area.  
  
The dolphins were all jumping, swimming, and cavorting about when we stepped in. One of the trainers was feeding them and playing with them.  
  
SPLASH!  
  
Just as we got to beside the tank, one of the dolphins beat it's tail up against the wall and soaked us. We were positively soaked.  
  
"Teaches you to be late for a show, Cass." The trainer said.  
  
"Oh, hi, Eileen. Just thought we would make it to the late show. Some of my particularly unenlightened friends wanted to see what dolphins were really like."  
  
"Oh," Eileen said. "Well, I am sorry, but there are no more shows today. You will have to come back tomorrow."  
  
"Oh, no problem. Can we just come up and see them?"  
  
"Sure, I have to do some cleaning and stuff, so I can leave these little fishies with you? You okay with that?"  
  
"Sure." Cassie said. We all made our way to the back door that led to the platform beside the tank.  
  
"You would thing that a dolphin trainer would know that dolphins weren't fish." Marco said.  
  
"She meant these fish." I said as I pointed to a big bucket filled with fish. Probably for the dolphins.  
  
"Okay,." Cassie said. "We have Joey, Chandler, Ross, Phoebe, Rachel, and Monica." Cassie said. "Take your pick. Does Rachel want Rachel?"  
  
"How do you know what one is which?" Rachel asked.  
  
"I can tell by the markings, I have known them since they were transferred here five years ago." Cassie said.  
  
"Well, I guess we get to be 'Friends' all over again, huh?" I asked, then laughed. What a bunch of names.  
  
"I hate that show." Whitney said. "So much of a disappointment of a sitcom."  
  
"Sure, I agree, but we can't exactly be picky." I said as I began to demorph. Let's face it, you can't acquire animals when you are morphed.  
  
One after the other, we all acquired one of the dolphins. All a different one. I was Joey. And, of course, Rachel was Rachel. Even though the personalities didn't match at all. We all left one morph ahead. I couldn't wait to try it out. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
I usually do the groceries for me and Sam. He usually stays home, and I go into town to the grocery store. I go because I can morph, and that is the key element, if I was to go into town in my own body, I would be recognized.  
  
So I morph to Josh. That guy was beginning to be a bit more of me every day. When I had to work, when I had to go into town, or when I needed to do anything. He was me, and it was kind of cool to have an alter ego.  
  
So, one day after work, I had to go into town to get groceries, and someone from school that knew me noticed me. You see, I had been going in as a morph for the past month and I was kind of tired of it. So I went in and once I was in the store, I demorphed for the two hour limit, and someone noticed me before I could morph back.  
  
He said he knew me, and I even talked to him, morphing ever so slowly to prevent any suspicions. He pretty much had to say that he thought I was dead and so on and whatnot. He wasn't a controller, or he would have done something to try and get me captured. Instead, he just tried to convince me to come back.  
  
I, of course, denied it all, telling him I didn't know what he was talking about and tried to leave. It was a guy named Steve.  
  
When he turned around, I left, trying to lose him in the grocery store. When I left him, I morphed completely. That way, if he saw me again, I would tell him to leave me alone.  
  
It eventually worked, and he left me alone. Unfortunately, he saw me again at the checkout and tried to talk to me. Said I had the same clothes and was sorry when I showed him my face. I was fine, for now.  
  
I went home and gave all the groceries to Sam. You see, there was one big problem living in the wild. There was no electricity and no way to keep things cool, so we had to get foods that wouldn't melt and didn't need to be cooked. That pretty much left us with peanut butter and jam sandwiches. There was lot's of fruit, but we could only buy so much at any given time.  
  
Anyway, we were eating, when Rachel stopped by. She was a bald eagle, and she simply came buy to deliver a message. We were going to be going out to the river that meets the ocean. Jake had decided that would be easier rather than going straight up to the beach and morph. There were far too many people there on a weekend.  
  
So we would go to the bridge and go from there. Sam would see us off to take care of our clothes. It was a road bridge, so we would act like bridge divers if we were seen. Jake had it all under control.  
  
So, later that day, Sam and I walked out to the bridge. I knew where it was, so I would make it there no problem. It was in the forest, and the river underneath it was pretty clean.  
  
We made it there about noon. Yeah, I know it was early, but we lived a full life. We both walked to make it easier. When we got there, everyone was already there.  
  
{What took you so long, we are running out of time.} Tobias said.  
  
"Come on, it is still noon, we have plenty of time." I said. "Besides, it is the weekend, we have nothing to do."  
  
"Yes, but we don't know how long this will take." Rachel said. "Could be an hour total, we may not even come close enough to see anything in six hours. Who knows?"  
  
Jake stepped forward, "Either way, let's get going."  
  
We all shed our outer clothing and started to climb down the embankment next to the bridge that led to the river. All but Whitney. I walked back to her, and Rachel followed.  
  
"Let's go, Whit." I said.  
  
"Let's jump off the bridge. I've done it before, and it is completely safe, wanna do it too?" She asked.  
  
I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Rachel. She nodded encouragement. So I walked up to the bar and shook my head at Whitney. "You know you're crazy, right?"  
  
"Of course." She answered.  
  
"Don't forget me," Rachel said, "no crazy stunt is complete without me."  
  
So we all took our clothes and threw them all over the side. We told Sam to capture them, but he didn't reach, so he had to use the telekinesis to pull them to him. The others were already down in the river.  
  
Whitney was the first to get on the bar. She stood on it with the grace that only a gymnast can have. "Watch out below!" Whitney called as she jumped off. She kind of did a backwards dive. She fell all the way down to the river below with a big splash.  
  
"You are crazy!" I called down.  
  
"She is, isn't she!" Marco called back up.  
  
Just then, to my side, I saw Rachel jump onto the rail and almost immediately dove into the water. I was not going to be outdone, so I walked back a few steps and ran at the rail, clearing it and falling to the water in a cannonball.  
  
SPLASH! I landed only feet away from Rachel and Whitney.  
  
{You are all crazy!} Tobias said from up at the bridge. Sam was already walking back up with all our clothes.  
  
"Alright, let's go." Jake urged.  
  
We all waded there in the river in our little skimpy morphing outfits. I began to morph to dolphin. Everybody else's skin all turned rubbery and their hair disappeared. I, however, didn't appear to have any changes. I could feel them though. My entire lower half had already turned into the tail fin of the dolphin. The transformation slowly crept up my body until it reached my chest and arms, sucking my hands into my chest.  
  
I found I couldn't stay afloat without my arms, so I slipped under and held my breath until my flippers and blowhole formed. When they did, I kicked myself to the surface and sucked in a big ole lung-full of air.  
  
{I'm ready.} I said to the others.  
  
{We aren't yet. Give us a minute.} Jake said.  
  
{Let's go scout ahead a bit.} Cassie said. She was the only other one to morph as fast as me.  
  
You see, though, the dolphin subconscious had yet to kick in. I was completely surprised when the brain had kicked in. The dolphin was hyper, and above all else, it was happy. It wanted to play. There was minimal fear, if any. Hunger was simply a side effect of playing, and shelter wasn't even an issue. I wasn't sure if they even slept.  
  
You see, the dolphin was not afraid of anything. Water was it's playground, and that was where it was. It was completely content.  
  
{Come on!} Cassie said in an excited tone. {I bet I will make it there first!}  
  
{No way, I will so totally be there first.} I said back. I kicked my tail and shot out towards the ocean, because that was where I truly belonged.  
  
{Settle down you two.} Jake said.  
  
{This isn't a race.} Marco added.  
  
{Oh yes it is!} Rachel said. {Wait up for me!} she dashed towards us and the three of us all rocketed as fast as we could into the ocean.  
  
{Wait up!} Whitney called to us. {I wanna go too!}  
  
When Marco and Jake finally joined us, we all swam out to the edges of the ocean. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
We were swimming and frolicking around for close to an hour before we even got anything achieved. Eventually, Jake had to get us back on track.  
  
{Okay, guys.} he said in a semi-serious tone. {We need to get to what we were here to do. We can't be playing around here all day. We need to hurry up and see if we can find this ship.} he couldn't hold back his excitedness, he was a slave to the dolphin's mind.  
  
{Bet I can find it first!} Rachel called.  
  
{No way, I will get there first!} Marco countered.  
  
That went on like that for the next fifteen minutes as we swam in circles, as it seemed, until we finally saw something worth seeing.  
  
We were constantly using the echolocation that dolphins have to 'see' things that were farther away than we could see with our eyes, so, naturally, we all stopped at one time and looked around. We 'saw' nothing more than the rocky and sandy depths of the ever spreading ocean.  
  
Temporarily disappointed, we continued on with our search.  
  
After about an hour and a half, we were just about to morph back in the ocean when I 'saw' something floating on the surface about a kilometre away. It was large and was sending a disturbance throughout the 25 foot wide circle.  
  
{Do you hear that?} I asked everyone. {That disturbance to the right, can you feel it?}  
  
Everyone started to turn a bit to get a better 'view'.  
  
{I can feel something, but I can't make it out.} Marco said.  
  
Cassie did though, {It looks like something big being attacked by a bunch of other smaller things. Maybe a whale being attacked by a bunch of sharks?} she suggested.  
  
{Maybe, but maybe we could help out somehow...} Rachel trailed off.  
  
{No.} Marco said, {There is no way we are getting in a fight with sharks, we need to demorph or something, but let's not get in a fight here.}  
  
I concentrated for a second on the wriggling, seething mass. There were five sharks and one big-ass whale. I definitely couldn't make it out from this distance.  
  
{We have no reason to fight sharks.} Jake pointed out.  
  
{He's right, Dolphins don't attack sharks. If a shark catches a dolphin, that is usually the end of it.} Cassie stated. Who was I to argue, she knew more about it than I did  
  
But one thought did surface in my mind, why were sharks ganging up on a whale. Aren't sharks solitary and whales are social? So why were they doing that? Without a second thought, I kicked my tail and sped forward to the whale.  
  
{Wait up!} I heard Rachel call.  
  
{Why are you being such an idiot?} Whitney shouted, then kicked off as well.  
  
{There are five sharks and six of us. Plus the whale, I am helping.} I yelled as I went faster and faster towards the melee.  
  
{You are an idiot, you know that!} Marco said.  
  
{But I'm an idiot with a cause!} I shouted back. After that, I could hear more arguments, but I ignored them. I was getting close, I could feel it in the echoes, so I went faster and faster until I made it to the closest shark. But did I stop and try to reason with it? Nooooo, I had to do the reckless danger by ramming it in the gills with my nose.  
  
And was that ever a mistake. I reeled by the shock of the blow. I felt like I had the face of a determined moron running into a wall. I couldn't move properly for a second until I had come to my senses.  
  
Unfortunately... by this time, the sharks had also come to their senses and were turning on me. Fortunately, Rachel and Whitney had made it there and had done the same thing to distract and anger them more.  
  
So now I was back on track and the rest was useless, so I did what I always do, I attacked the shark again with my nose. I didn't have the speed, so it didn't hurt as much as before, but it was still painful.  
  
{Here to save the day!} Cassie said as she got herself some shark.  
  
At this point, all of them were now fighting, so I decided to try something new, I turned around and tried to whack the nearest shark in the face with my tail. It was a bit more effective than head-butting him, but now he was in direct access of my tail.  
  
I tried to spin to the side because the shark jerked forward and tried to get a piece of my tail. He must have succeeded because I could see out of the corner of my eye a little billowing red cloud spreading from my tail.  
  
I turned tail and tried to get away a bit do I could really do some damage, but it didn't work out quite that way. The shark was chasing me, probably from the blood that I had spilt. I made a roundabout turn and tried to make my way back, but the shark was right on my tail.  
  
I tried to pull a fast one and do a quick turnaround to maybe get him off my tail. He got me in the side with one or two of his teeth. They sliced right into me because I could see a thin line of blood trailing from an apparent gash in my side. I ignored it and swam for my life, right towards the other sharks. You see, I seem to have had a wacky idea that I could draw the other sharks away from everyone.  
  
I swam back up toward everything and everyone. When I made it high enough, I went back down and off to the side so I would draw them away.  
  
It worked, all but one were now on my trail, and probably about ten others from around the sea. Sharks can detect one part blood in one million parts water. Scary if you ask me. But I was sure my blood was drawing on at least a few other lovely little hungry sharks.  
  
But, sure enough, my plan backfired. The gash was bigger than I had originally anticipated, and I was getting weaker by the second. I dipped down, turned around, and tried to go under the first one and in between the other three. Down I went, confusing the hell out of the first one. So I went deeper and turned around. Looking up towards the surface, I could see the sharks swimming down to me. I swam directly to the middle one.  
  
They say sharks can turn on a dime looking for food. But do they have split second reflexes? Apparently not. I turned about half a second before I would hit the shark head on and diverted myself out of the way and toward the surface. And at that precise moment, four other dolphins came in to the side and hit them, knocking them off to the side as I continued to swim straight to the surface.  
  
I broke the surface and flew into the air. Hovering there for what seemed like eternity, I could see something under the surface of the water, coming at us like a rampant train. Dolphin eyes were pretty good in air.  
  
As I landed in the water, I could see what it was. It was the whale, coming right at us. I stayed near the surface, so I could get lot's of air. The chase had drained me. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that the so called gash was merely a pinprick. The way I was moving must have made it look like a gash. Plus, I guess it was the air that weakened me, because I was fully refreshed, except for the chunk missing from my tail, but oh well. I raced down to join up with everyone else.  
  
When I got there, most of the fun had already been taken. They were all gone, the sharks, I mean. {Where'd they go?} I asked.  
  
{We injured one and the others chased it away.} Rachel explained.  
  
{We got off pretty easy today, we need to demorph.} Jake said.  
  
We all demorphed and remorphed in the open sea. I noticed the lack of one vital element. Marco. {Where its Marco?} I asked.  
  
{I don't know...} Whitney said. I turned around and started using the echolocation to look for him. I could see a vague object floating on the surface.  
  
{Marco!} I called. {Marco!}  
  
I swam up to him and nudged him. He didn't move. I could see his midsection moving, so I could tell he was breathing. I nudged him a little harder, he still didn't move.  
  
The others all got there and tried to wake him up, all with no effect. You see, he was almost ripped in half. Well, actually, about the back third was ripped off by everything except a few measly shreds of flesh. It was horrible.  
  
So I swam deep and came back up, landing on Marco with a splash, hoping to slap him enough to wake him.. He sunk under me and started to sink more. He wasn't waking up.  
  
{Help Me!} I heard Marco scream. He was underwater and couldn't swim to the surface. So I went down and pushed him up to the surface. But at least he was alive.  
  
{Demorph!} Jake yelled.  
  
{Just demorph.} I said, {you will be fully healed, as long as you demorph.}  
  
And so he did, slowly but surely, he demorphed. The pink patches of rubbery dolphin flesh gave way to the softer, pink, human flesh.  
  
{Good, just keep going.} Cassie urged.  
  
Eventually, Marco was a little, short, human in spandex floating in the middle of the ocean. Completely out of place in the vast expanse of the ocean. He was having a rather difficult time keeping afloat, so Cassie swam up to him and lent him a dorsal fin. He was probably tired. From what I've heard, morphing makes you exhausted, mentally and physically. I have never had a problem with it.  
  
Anyways, we floated there, holding Marco afloat for about fifteen minutes before he decided to remorph. When he finally did, he noticed something.  
  
{Hey, guys, do you feel that?} Marco asked. I guess the rest of us all were too busy with Marco to notice our surroundings. I guess it didn't want to go near the human that was Marco, until it was gone, because as we were about to leave, something large swam towards us. It was a whale, the one we rescued. It had tear marks all over it's side.  
  
{What is it?} Cassie asked.  
  
{It's a whale, idiot.} Rachel commented, {What else?}  
  
{No, not that, I can feel it too, Cass.} Whitney said {Like a song.}  
  
{Yes, like the whale is trying to communicate.} Cassie answered.  
  
{I can't hear it.} Marco said as he went up for air. Neither could I, but who was I to doubt cassie? She saw the images of the sea, just like me. So I could tell she could feel something, just because we couldn't feel it didn't mean it wasn't there.  
  
{Well, we have no time for small talk and songs.} Jake said, {Let's go.}  
  
We all agreed and started swimming away, only to notice that two of us were behind. they were Cassie and Whitney. We went back and tried to convince them to come. They wouldn't.  
  
{Whit, come on, we only have a little while left before morph time runs out. Let's go.} I said. They didn't answer.  
  
{This is stupid.} Marco said, {it's those little voices in their heads again.}  
  
{Who are you to criticise? Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean that is isn't there.} I said.  
  
He shut up real quick, but Cassie and Whitney still didn't reply. We waited there for about ten more minutes. I was getting sick of all this waiting. I was about to leave by myself right before I heard Whitney go, {Whoa.} she was back with us. Cassie took just a little longer to come back.  
  
{Welcome back.} I said. {Good to see the two of you again.}  
  
{Let's go home, we have a lot to say to you.} Cassie said to us. And with that, we were finally ready to go. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
When we got back to the little creek where we started, we all kind of kept quiet. Who knew who was around. Anyways, everyone was pretty eager to go home and rest. We were all pretty tired after the shark attack thing. In fact, they were having a hard time making it back to shore, they were so tired. It bothered me, really, it did. I had absolutely no problem with the morphing tiring me out. It usually left me refreshed, because the new body had yet to be drained of energy.  
  
Or maybe I was talented. For instance, I was the fastest morpher, next to cassie. Sometimes I could do it faster, sometimes she could do it faster. Nobody else couldn't even come close. They were slowpokes.  
  
Oh well, anyways, it ended up just being me, Whitney, and Cassie left under the bridge. We were talking about what was happening.  
  
"So, you say you know where the andalite is?" I asked.  
  
"We think. I don't know how to describe it, but the whale actually was able to tell us what was happening. It is hard to describe unless it happened to you, sorry." Whitney said. "But it was like he showed us a video of what happened."  
  
"It is really hard to describe." Cassie added. "But I can almost guarantee I know where the andalite is."  
  
I shook my head. "I believe you, and you know that, but it will be hard to try and get Marco and Rachel to believe you. It does sound kind of farfetched." I informed them.  
  
Cassie walked up out of the water and turned around. "I know, but I also know Jake will get them to understand."  
  
Whitney laughed. "I agree completely. I can see it, Jake trying to tell Marco that although it was a long shot, it was more than he had and therefore was enough to go by."  
  
We all laughed and let it be at that. I was planning on going home and resting. It was a long day, even though I was not yet tired.  
  
So I morphed peregrine falcon and flew off back home. I knew Sam had my clothes there, and Tobias would be there too, probably wanting to hear how it went.  
  
By the time I made it home, the sun was just barely still peeking over the horizon. It was getting late. And, of course, Sam was out in the field practising martial arts. I flew down to him and demorphed in the tree, right where I like to sit as a human.  
  
"Good to see you again." He said, then stopped to come over and sit up in the tree with me. "How'd it go?" He asked as he settled down in his normal branch.  
  
"It was alright." I answered. Then proceeded to tell him about the fight with the sharks and the whale who told Cassie where the ship was and so on and what not. And, of course, he was speculative. He didn't believe me. Then something caught my eye.  
  
"Where's Tobias?" I asked.  
  
"Rachel came by already and took him away to tel him how it went." Sam answered.  
  
"They didn't fill you in?"  
  
"Nope, said you would. Oh well. They were right."  
  
I grabbed onto one of the branches and swung myself down and fell to the ground. Sam soon followed.  
  
We both walked to the house and went inside. He wanted to talk more, but I just made myself a peanut butter and jam sandwiches and kept to myself.  
  
"Do you think that Jake will find a way to make me be able to go with you when you go to get the andalite?" He asked. I just shrugged my shoulders. "I want to go." He insisted.  
  
"Well, you can't morph, how do you think you are going to morph. Can you fly that long?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah, it really isn't that hard to keep it up, all you have to do is keep concentrating, the mind doesn't tire as quickly as the body, at least not with this." He said. I just shrugged my shoulders. He left me alone. He got the point.  
  
I got into bed and fell asleep with him still awake. I didn't care, what was I to do?  
  
When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange world, built of lego's. I was in a tower, made of many big blocks of different loud colours. It was really weird.  
  
I closed my eyes hoping to wake up, but I didn't. So I pinched myself. Nothing. Then a slap. Nothing. Oh well, so what. Maybe I took a hit of acid and didn't know it. Who knew. When I got up, I could see other towers similar to the one I was in. I was right by the edge, and there was no railing. I looked over the side and below me I saw the clouds....about a mile down.  
  
I quickly backed away from the railing and bumped into someone walking by. "Sorry." I said. The guy just huffed. I looked around and saw the strangest creature. Really wrinkly, with a vulture beak head and an accordion for a chest. Weird.  
  
{No Problem.} the guy said in thought speech.  
  
I was shaken, but not stirred. It confused me. Where was I? I asked myself. I took a walk. After about ten minutes, I was concerned. I hoped it was only a dream, but it was incredibly long and detailed for a dream.  
  
All around, I could see the little polka guys running around the dr suess tower. I was really getting confused, when I saw something that looked vaguely like a human, but it's skin resembled that of cooling lava. Around it's waist was a set of what looked like weapons. I wasn't sure, except a beam weapon that looked like a dracon beam. I knew he wasn't friendly, but I walked up to him anyway.  
  
"Excuse me, but could you tell me where the way out is?" I asked it. He then said something that I most certainly couldn't understand, then eight more of the lava beasts came from assorted doors. They all started screaming something to each other then they began to run at me.  
  
I couldn't tell why, but I was completely calm about all this, like I wasn't even there. I closed my eyes and raised my hands. When I opened my eyes again, al the beasts were within ten feet of me, banging on an invisible wall. I tilted my head to the side. I couldn't understand what was doing. I lowered my hands and they all fell forward.  
  
Having fun with this little game, I raised my hands again, hoping it would do the same thing. And well, it did, almost. Instead, they were all thrown back like they had been hit by some sort of explosion. I concentrated on trying to figure out what was going on and suddenly, a little glowing blue dome appeared over me.  
  
It was weird. I thought about it as the black creatures got up. Gone, back, gone, back, all at a single thought. Simple. I liked it. I decided to lower the shield. One of them raised a weapon and all the others backed away. I outstretched a palm in a giving manner, but instead, the gun was brought to my hand, right out of his.  
  
Then, something really odd happened. I crushed the gun in my hand. Like it was a tin can, it crumpled as I squeezed it. Like I was superman or something.  
  
Now, at this point, I was only half in control. Something else was also controlling me. I would like to say it was some sort of instinct, but I quickly ruled that out. Something was controlling me. Like another voice in my head, telling me what to do.  
  
So I gave in to this voice, it seemed to know what it was doing. Since the black lava dudes were all coming at me at the same time at that time, I thought it would be best.  
  
But all nine of them were being thrown to the walls one way and the other with the simple waving of my hand. One after another, like rag dolls. Eventually, they started throwing grenades and stuff at me. When they exploded, I simply used the energy to jump in the opposite direction, bouncing off the walls and dropkicking two of the beasts. The 'fight', if that was what you were going to call it, lasted about ten minutes before I got sick of it all and raised my hand to te roof and all of them stuck to the roof like it was velcro. They couldn't move.  
  
Then I let them all down, and everything slowed down. I jumped up and kicked one after another, still in the air and falling. Jumping from one to the other, kicking them all around, when all of them were lying on the floor, 'I' decided to leave.  
  
As I exited the room, I felt something hit the back of my head. It only felt like being hit in the head with a spoon, but I closed my eyes, annoyed. I turned around and opened them to a brilliant flash of blue, then the lava creature that hit me was stuck against the wall by about three shining, bright blue shards of, well, something. I shook my head and the blue shards disappeared, the creature falling to the ground, bleeding all over himself. He was holding something that resembled a sledgehammer, only shorter.  
  
Another flash led me to believe that the beasts were no more. I don't know why, but it did. Then an explosion rocked me.  
  
BOOM!  
  
And I sat up in my little corner of the shed we cleaned up. It was all a dream. But what was it? Oh well, I would have to put it off 'till morning, I couldn't discuss it with anyone at the time. I curled up and went back to sleep. There were no more dreams that night, realistic or not. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Later that morning, I got up to see Sam was just getting up. I knew it wasn't like me, but I was going to admit I was wrong, I thought. He was right and I was wrong. I knew he would gloat at least for a while, then he would forget about it. Oh well, it was a good thing I was wrong.  
  
Anyway, we got up and ate some dry cereal right out of the box. We don't have a fridge, and therefore no way to keep milk cold, so we have to eat dry cereal.  
  
Anyway, we were both eating, when I decided to admit what I thought at the time was the truth. He had described it all to me, and it seemed exactly like what he said, and it was so incredibly liberating. I liked it. The only problem was getting it to work now.  
  
"Sam, you know how you said I had telekinesis too?" I asked in between bites.  
  
"You do, you just can't control it yet. No biggie." He replied.  
  
I gulped. "Well, something has been brought to my attention that has made me believe you." I told him.  
  
He put the box of honeycomb down. "Good to know you have come to see the light." He said. "Now, I need to teach you how to use it."  
  
"No, not yet." I said. This obviously threw him off.  
  
"Why?" He asked.  
  
"We have more important things on our mind right now, like saving the andalite."  
  
"Alright, but I am curious, what was it that made you realize this?" He asked.  
  
I closed my eyes and thought of how to say it. It was going to be hard to explain in a way that he would understand. He looked impatient, so eventually I just let out a breath of air and told him, straight up. "I had a dream." I said simply. He looked speculative at first, but I could tell he was also inquisitive, so I continued. "It was one of those dreams that seems incredibly realistic, like it was more of a dream. Kind of like the dream me, Cassie, and Tobias had about the andalite calling out from the ocean. Except even more convincing."  
  
"Alright, I see, but why do you think it is so accurate?"  
  
"Well, it seems almost like I had thought it seemed when you explained it to me. You know, when I saw it, I could tell it was what it was like when you described it to me."  
  
"What if I was lying?" He asked rhetorically. "Maybe I said that so you would conjure it up, in your mind, in the dreams." This really caught me off guard and I didn't know what to say. I was beginning to be a little doubtful now. What if he was and I just made myself a fool? Oh well.  
  
"Go on, tell me what it was like anyway. I do want to hear what you have to say." He encouraged me.  
  
Oh well, I would give it a shot. "Alright, it was like I had a connection to the world around me. Like I knew exactly what was going to happen, even before it happened. And it wasn't just what people were going to do, like now. I was part of this world and I could feel things before they happened." I told him.  
  
He waved his hand, "No, not about that, what was it like when you used the telekinesis, in the dream." He added.  
  
"It was like that. Plus, everything moved slower to me. Things fell slower than they should, and I still seemed to go normal speed, if not fast. And I also noticed that I was able to 'make' objects that only I could see. For instance, I pinned a creature against the wall with three things that looked like glass shards. Only, when I lost my concentration, they disappeared."  
  
"Really, go on."  
  
"Also, I was fighting nine enemies, all of which seemed like they had been in a few fights before. When they all came at me, I created a dome that stopped them all in their tracks. They ran into it like they hadn't seen it. Judging by the way you use it, only you can see the energy that you use. I have noticed that many things can be done with this. Like, if I wanted to push something, a blue blob appeared in front of the thing I was pushing and it fell back. But if I wanted to pick something up, their entire bodies glowed. Although, it didn't have the entire world light up like you described it. It only glowed where I was using it."  
  
"I like it so far, go on."  
  
"There isn't much more. Only that I could think little commands in my head like, 'get all the guns and crush them' and it worked. I had to have a general idea of where they were on each guy, but it was simple. It was like someone else was doing it. Plus, I took all nine of them and lifted them over my head. It was really cool. But for some reason, the whole thing had an emphasis on me being able to feel everything around me. Like I could do it with a blindfold. I could feel what was going on without actually seeing it. It was cool."  
  
"Well, I must say, congratulations. I now believe in your dreams. I was just yanking your chain about making it up. I described it as I saw it. There was one difference, though. I really don't feel connected to anything. I seem to have heightened reflexes, but that is about it. The way you describe it, it sounds more in depth than mine. It almost scares me. Because I can't get any stronger with it and you sound pretty strong. Plus the whole shape-thing sounds a little farfetched. I can do picking up, directing, and pushing. That's about it."  
  
"Well, I hope I can achieve higher levels than you. But first, we need to make sure I can do it. So far, it is just a dream, even if a realistic one. But I can't do it for sure, no need to get carried away with possibilities until it is confirmed, so don't get your hopes up high. We need to worry about the mission at hand first." I said. "You do know that we have to leave soon, right?"  
  
"Yeah, and meet at Cassie's barn." He answered.  
  
We put away the cereal and started walking to Cassie's barn. You see, we needed to be there in half an hour. It takes 20 minutes to walk there from our little house in the woods.  
  
Five minutes into the walk, I asked Sam, "so, when you move things and such, why is it that you move your hands? It is like in the movies, they always raise their hands to whatever it is their using."  
  
"Well, would you believe me if I told you it was for concentration. Doing the motions and pointing tend to subconsciously focus your mind and helps with manipulation if you pretend you are doing it right there. Why do you ask?"  
  
"In the dream, I rarely moved my hands, and when I did, it was only for when I was doing something rather big, like lifting them all."  
  
"And did you do it for looks, or what?"  
  
"No, it just felt natural. Like I had done it a thousand times. Plus, there was someone else focussing on some of the attacks. Someone else in my head."  
  
"Well, no need to worry about it now. We have a meeting to attend to." Sam said.  
  
And sure enough, we were right on the outer edges of the forest. I could see flashes of horses in between the trees. We were at Cassie's farm. I always did wonder if they really farmed anything there or just raised horses and did the Rehab clinic. I thought I would ask, but by the time we got to the barn, I had forgotten about it.  
  
I knocked on the barn door lightly. "Come in!" Cassie called. We both got in to see only Cassie was there. Nobody else. She was just cleaning cages and stuff. So we decided to pitch in before the rest of the group got there.  
  
When everyone was there, Jake immediately got down to business. We all got in our normal places. Me, Sam, and Tobias all were in the rafters. Marco, Rachel, and Whitney were all laying on assorted hay-bales. Cassie was cleaning, and Jake was pacing.  
  
"Okay, we need to take a vote." He said. "We have little information to go by, but by multiple sources. So we need to decide what we are doing here."  
  
"And don't forget, a whale is a perfectly good creature to get information from." Marco pitched in. We all laughed, even though we were doing just that.  
  
"All right, I admit, it does sound a little odd, but I swear it's true." Whitney protested.  
  
"I was there too, and it is real, I hope." Cassie added.  
  
"Look, you have to understand," Rachel said, "if you were just a bystander to this, then it does sound pretty stupid. But then again, we are fighting a war with aliens underground now. So anything is possible, even if it is from a lowly earth creature."  
  
I jumped out into the middle of the barn off of my little perch in the rafters. "Okay, we need to settle this once and for all. I was also one to feel the calls, and that appeared to be true, who's to say what they did and didn't hear. We need to decide whether or not we are going tomorrow." I declared. Whitney and Cassie seemed a bit relieved.  
  
But then Marco butted in, "Actually, we are going immediately following this meeting." He said.  
  
I was shocked. Nobody else seemed to be. "Hm, excuse me?" I asked.  
  
"We are leaving like in ten minutes, if we decide to go." Jake said. I still was confused, so Jake explained it to me. "Marco was sitting at home last night, doing what he does best..."  
  
"Watching TV!" Marco interrupted.  
  
"....Yes, watching TV, and he saw something that interested him. It was a bit on the news talking about a large salvage crew that was going looking for the rest of the ship that was discovered a week ago."  
  
"So we need to hitch a ride on one of those ships." I figured.  
  
"Exactly." Marco said. "We even had our eye in the sky check it out." he pointed to Tobias.  
  
{And yes, they have a rather large fleet at the harbour about ready to go.} he confirmed.  
  
But something didn't sit right with me. "Why would it be all over the TV? I mean, if it really is andalite, why would the yeerks allow such things to be public, wouldn't they rather do it in covert ops?"  
  
Jake was about to answer, but Sam answered for me, "To lure out unsuspecting Andalites into a trap." He said simply.  
  
I see, it was simple.  
  
"But there will not be any andalites out there, now will there?" Marco said.  
  
"First, we need to vote, are we going?" Whitney asked.  
  
"I'm in." Rachel and I said immediately. I smiled.  
  
"Me too." Cassie said. "I can feel something big here."  
  
"I see a good possibility for help, so I will go." Marco said.  
  
"Sounds like fun." Whitney said.  
  
"Tobias, Sam?" Jake asked.  
  
{I can't do much in the water, so I can't vote.} Tobias pointed out.  
  
"That's bullshit, Tobias, you know that. You had the visions, same as me. Do you think we should go or not?" I asked.  
  
{If it really is an andalite, I would be more than happy to help.}  
  
"Sam?" Jake said. "Your vote counts too."  
  
"You know I'm going where the action is." He replied.  
  
"You sure about that? It will be pretty hard to help us underwater if you can't morph."  
  
"I can go as far as Tobias, and if worse comes to worse too early, I can be of help."  
  
"Alright, fair enough." Jake said. "It is unanimous, Cassie, would you do the honours." Jake didn't say what his vote was, but it obviously was for. He kept his opinions 'till last, like a real leader.  
  
Cassie walked over to a cage and pulled something out. It was a seagull, which seemed a lot bigger than I remembered. "We will be travelling via seagull for this trip. They are less discriminant on a beach and can fly over water easier. Everyone, acquire it now, we are running out of time." 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
While we were flying over the beach, I had to resist the urges to eat every little bit of garbage on the beach.  
  
{Come on Gordon, we know you are always hungry, but there are limits, so don't let the gull brain get a hold of your already hungry mind.} Whitney said. She knew me all too well.  
  
{I do have some restrain, Whit. Just don't underestimate me.} I said.  
  
Sam had flown off before we had all acquired the seagull. We told him to meet us at the marina. We would be flying off from there, because Tobias had said we would be able to intercept the ships that were on their way out already.  
  
{So, Jake, why didn't you tell me about this earlier. Like yesterday?} I asked.  
  
{Well, we didn't know about it until late last night.} he answered.  
  
{But Tobias knew, why was that? Tobias sleeps with us.}  
  
{Well, um.... I guess,} Cassie said, not fully able to bring out the words. {Well, we kinda thought if we told you and Sam, he would try and get a head start, dragging you into it to try and get more info or something. You know Sam.}  
  
{Yeah, I do. I guess you were right. But you couldn't have just talked to me? I could have talked back without him knowing. Don't forget, I can use Telepathy outside of morph. Still something I don't have complete control over, but I can still use it.}  
  
{Doesn't matter, he probably would have told Sam anyways.} Marco said to Jake.  
  
{What?} I asked. {What did you say Marco?}  
  
{Nothing, why?}  
  
{I could have swore you just said I would have told Sam. Which would have probably been right anyway.}  
  
{Alright, I did, but I didn't say it to you, I said it to only Jake. I don't know why you heard it. I hope my direction isn't going on me.}  
  
{I didn't hear it.} Whitney said.  
  
{Neither did I.} Rachel added. {You could though?}  
  
{Yeah, but let's go. We are there.} I said, changing the subject. {We have more important things at hand.}  
  
That pretty much ended the conversation for the time being, until we spotted Sam. {Someone call him, tell him we are ready to go.} Jake said.  
  
{Alright, we are ready, go straight out in a line along the docks. Try and find a ship out in the middle of the ocean. Stay on the closest one. Good luck to you.} Tobias called down. I could see Sam jump off of the roof he was on and fly in a straight line away into the open, clear ocean. I think he had a couple of swords, but I wasn't sure. Seagull eyes weren't quite as good as falcon eyes, We were all quick to follow.  
  
We all flew for nearly an hour before we saw anything. We were having a hard time staying in the air because there were no thermals over water, so we were all tired, and kinda grumpy when we finally did find the first ship.  
  
{Finally.} Marco sighed. {At last, a place to rest.}  
  
{Normally, I would tell you to shut up, but I have to agree this time. I am tired as hell.} Rachel agreed.  
  
{I wouldn't talk, you guys are partially made to do this. I am a hawk, we are used to having thermals to lift us high into the sky. My body isn't made for straight flapping over water.} Tobias said.  
  
{Okay, we need to land on the back of that cruiser. Out of sight of any personnel. We don't need any hostilities.} Jake warned, cutting off an imminent argument. But it was really obvious.  
  
We all flew closer and closer to the ship, until I could barely make out a black shape silhouetted on the wall of ten foot tall crates. Crates that probably held equipment or food.  
  
But Tobias said It first. {I think I see Sam. He is standing behind the crated on the back of that ship.}  
  
{Alright, that's our boy, let's go.} I said. We all flapped harder and longer, until we finally made it out to the back of the ship. We actually had to catch up to it.  
  
"Well, isn't it everyone's favourite flock of seagulls." Sam said as we approached. We were the only birds within about thirty miles. Plus, Tobias's rusty hawk feathers were a dead giveaway. Why would a normal gull go this far out?  
  
{Grh, shut up, we had to do a lot of hard work to get here, now get out of the way so we can land properly.} I said. He stood off to the side and we all landed, demorphing in the surprisingly cold ocean air.  
  
So there we were, cold and shivering on the back of an ocean liner.  
  
{Well, I guess I will be going, now. I really have no place here. Besides, if it goes any farther out, I will have a hard time getting back to shore.} Tobias said as he flared his wings to take off.  
  
"No, wait. Keep me company." Sam said. "I can't do any more than you, but I still came out to see them off. I am sticking around to see what happens, so you are staying too."  
  
{But..}  
  
"No buts. I can carry you." Sam said, almost reading his mind.  
  
{Fine.} Tobias huffed, admitting defeat.  
  
So there we were, out in the middle of the ocean, doing nothing at all, except sitting on the back of an ocean liner. We tried different things, like rock/paper/scissors. Mercy fights, and other stupid little mind games like 20 questions.  
  
Needless to say, I was bored out of my skull, so I started doing pushups. Eventually, my arms got tired, so I did sit-ups. My gut needed toning anyway.  
  
After about another hour and a half of us freezing there, the ship started slowing down. "Alright, this is our stop." Jake said. "I think we are already there."  
  
"Already?" Marco almost shrieked, "come on, we have been here for like six hours, doing things that would make watching fly's fuck interesting. If you want to stick around, go ahead. I am morphing." He got up and sat on the edge of the ship, where he proceeded to morph until he no longer had legs to bend over the side. He slipped and fell into the water with a small splash. Or so it seemed up here.  
  
I flinched. "That looked like it took a few layers off the top." I said.  
  
Cassie was next. She just dived in and morphed in the water.  
  
{Yeah, I can't swim well.} Marco said to cassie once she was fully morphed. {That's why I did it up there.} like he needed an explanation.  
  
Then Rachel went. And of course, she did it with some style a beautiful swan dive. Followed by Whitney, who did the same.  
That left just me, Jake, Sam and Tobias.  
  
Jake just shrugged his shoulders and did a cannonball. I could hear a rather loud distant splash.  
  
I turned to Sam. "I hope nobody heard that."  
  
"I wouldn't be too worried about it, the machines make enough noise to mask anything." he reassured.  
  
{You're next.} Tobias pointed out.  
  
I gave a little salute and dove in.  
  
SPLASH! 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
As soon as I hit the water, I immediately began the morph. Everyone was midway through morph. This would be interesting. I concentrated as hard as I could and began the morph. Slowly, I caught up to everyone else and beat all but Cassie to complete it. Actually, Marco was done too, but he was done before he got in. I know it wasn't a race, but it was still fun to compete. Competition brings out the best in you, as long as it is a friendly competition.  
  
Anyways, Cassie and Marco had to catch up to me, because the boat was moving the entire time and they got off far before me.  
  
{Alright, let's put your whale knowledge to test, Cassie.}I said jokingly.  
  
{Okay, from what I got, it is in a rather deep hole, beside some coral reefs.} she said.  
  
{I guess it would be good if we got a head start and started looking.} Marco suggested, {That way, we could always have someone looking for it, even with someone at the surface, breathing.} he had a point.  
  
{Alright, if anyone sees something for sure, call to the nearest person. Chances are that we will be too far apart to hear anyone else, so at least stay within range of the closest person.} I said as I dove down even deeper.  
  
I swam right down to the bottom, which wasn't as deep as I figured it would be. There was nothing but sand and fishes down there. And it was flat. Actually, the sand seemed to ripple. I don't see how this thing was in a hole. There were no holes in sight. {Guys, there are no holes, how can we find anything in a hole if there are no holes?}  
  
{I am sure of it, just keep looking.} Cassie answered.  
  
{We're coming.} Whitney said. {Found anything yet?}  
  
{Nope, not yet.} I heard Marco say. Which was odd, he should have been far out of reach, maybe he just was not far enough away yet. {Spread out, but keep close to the nearest person.}  
  
So we did just that, circling around along the bottom back and forth, looking for any hint of a deep hole or the beginnings of a coral reef.  
  
Constantly going back up for air and occasionally, we were getting tired. It was almost an hour before we found any hint of anything.  
  
Actually, I was in the middle of complaining when I thought I found something. {Come on, guys, maybe we were wrong.} I said, {Maybe the whale was thinking of something else, or maybe they already....} I stopped mid- sentence.  
  
{What?} Cassie asked.  
  
But I was confused. In front of me was a very deep underwater valley. The sides were covered in coral and in the middle was a big, clear dome. It was like a giant marble was thrown in between two tropical mountains. Except the trees were coral. And, of course, lot's of fishes. It was almost like an underwater oasis, compared to the barren wavy endless plain of sand that surrounded it.  
  
{Um, guys, I think I found something.} I said to Cassie.  
  
{What's it look like?} Cassie asked. {Maybe it's nothing.}  
  
{Just tell the others I am pretty sure it is what we are looking for.} I confirmed. {It is a valley with a giant park in a bubble.} because that was exactly what it was. Held in the bubble was a park that seemed to sit evenly with the sand around it.  
  
Cassie called everyone over, which took about another ten minutes. When everyone was right on the edge of the valley, Cassie had to say, {Wow, isn't it beautiful?} you know Cassie.  
  
{Yes, it is, but we have a job to do.} Jake said.  
  
Which led us to swim to the bottom, where the dome was. When we got close, I could see, for the very first time, the andalite, running along the bluish grass. I actually was washed over with happiness and hope for the first time in weeks. Maybe this was a huge turnaround in our luck.  
  
{Do you see that?} I said. {That is an andalite.} I almost said it with pride. I was in awe, though.  
  
{Why yes, it is an andalite, now lets get down there and see if he will let us in.} Marco said. I am hesitant to say that maybe he even sounded happy. If you could say 'sounded'. So we all swam to the dome.  
  
When we all got there, we could not see a way in. None whatsoever. {We could just ask her.} Rachel said. {We are here to help him.}  
  
{No, he may take us as hostile.... and what makes you think it is a girl?} Jake said.  
  
{Well, it does seem a little smaller and more feminine than Elfangor.} she said.  
  
{Let's just see if we can find a way in.} Marco suggested.  
  
{No, he would take us as hostile if we try and force our way in too.} I said. {But what is wrong with just asking him? I mean, as long as we have different voices, he will not think we are yeerks, only one yeerk can speak in thought speak, so he will probably recognize us as andalites at his rescue.}  
  
{No, because what if he asks for identification? What would we do then? What if it is a trap?} Jake asked.  
  
{I don't know. How could it be a trap?}  
  
{Could be Visser three in morph, who's to say the andalite he has can't morph other andalites?} Jake theorized. He could have been right.  
  
{But wait, what if that is true, then he see's we are human, it's all over.} we all fell quiet. This was getting heavier than we had originally anticipated.  
  
{Well, we are just going to have to take a chance.} Jake said.  
  
We all swam to the surface together, because we were all about out of breath. Dolphins can hold their breath longer than we could, but not forever.  
  
When we all surfaced, I was surprised to see that there were no ships in sight. Maybe they hadn't found anything yet. Or maybe it was a trap and that was what they wanted us to think. I kept my mouth shut. That was half of the fun, the anticipation. I didn't want to say anything or they might have changed their minds. I wanted to take a chance.  
  
Anyway, we all swam back down and searched the dome all around until we found something worth pushing, touching, or opening. I went around it like three times and still found nothing. It was Whitney who actually made the discovery.  
  
{I think I found something useful.} She said. We all went over to see her almost laying on the sand at the bottom of the ocean. She was pointed at the side of the ship with her nose. She wasn't moving, just pointing at the ship with her nose. {Look, it looks like a hatch and a panel or something. I think we will have to dig.} she said. It was like only a foot, but that is a lot when the sea current was moving you around and resettling the sand. The door was like ten feet tall and five feet wide.  
  
{I think you are right.} Marco said. {So get digging.}  
  
We all took turns digging with our noses and surfacing to breathe. We even had to demorph once before we actually uncovered much.  
  
By the time we actually got it completely uncovered, we were almost too tired to try and get in. So we all surfaced and came to a halt when we finally decided to go in. How were we to open the hatch?  
  
{Just nudge it with your nose.} Cassie suggested. So we did. And the door opened. Lots of water poured in and sucked us in. Apparently, it was filled with air. The chamber that it opened to was huge, with blue skies and clouds painted all over it and dead grass on the bottom. I had no idea why.  
  
Our huge dolphin bodies fit quite easily, and the door shut behind us. The chamber started filling up with air again, and I began to demorph. Something didn't feel right.  
  
{What are you doing?} Jake asked.  
  
But before I had time to answer, the other door opened, spilling water into the grass area.  
  
FLASH! I saw someone flinch and stop moving. One after another, they were stunned by a flashing weapon. What I would have thought was a yeerk dracon beam, only it was green rather than red.  
  
I jumped out to see that the andalite was shooting it.  
  
{A human.} it said. I guess I stunned it, because he stopped shooting long enough for me to make a hasty retreat.  
  
I jumped out of the chamber and dashed away, weaving to try and screw up it's aim. He steadied his gun and fired at me. He only hit my arm. Which was good. I could tell he was only trying to stun us, because my arm went numb, it didn't vaporize.  
  
I held up my other arm and stopped. I wasn't getting anywhere with only one arm. "Okay, I surrender!" I shouted. He aimed at me again. I fell to my knees and said again, "I surrender, jackass. I obviously can't hurt you, so why don't we talk instead."  
  
He kept his aim ready, {Trying to stall me, are you?} he accused.  
  
"No, we are here to try to rescue you." I managed to get out. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
{A human has come to rescue me, how is this?} he asked. {And what is it doing with the sea creatures?}  
  
"Those sea creatures are my friends." I told him.  
  
{You humans are more odd than I was informed of.} he spat.  
  
"Well, we are an odd species. Now, can we talk."  
  
{What is there to speak of?} he asked. {What can a lowly human offer me?}  
  
I sighed heavily and almost yelled at him, but that would be hostile, so I kept my calm. "Are you deaf, we are here to rescue you. Now judging by your reactions, you are definitely not a yeerk, so let's get down to business."  
  
{How could you ever relate me to one of those filthy things?} he growled.  
  
"Okay, so we have something in common, we both hate yeerks. So we have one common goal, now lets get my friends awake and get out of here."  
  
{How do you know of yeerks, or andalites, for that matter. What reason do I have to trust you?}  
  
I balled my un-numbed hand into a fist. He just didn't get it. "Look, to start off, I have to tell you a bit of the story. As you can see, I have no weapons, so you could probably chop me up into itty bitty pieces if you wanted, so let's start by getting to know a bit about each other. My name is Gordon, and I am here to save you. What about you." I offered as I extended my hand.  
  
{I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, I am an andalite of the dome ship GalaxyTree. Now answer me, why are you here?} he asked. Boy was he stupid.  
  
"Okay, let me tell you a story. One day, seven people are walking through an abandoned construction site, when one of them sees moving lights in the sky, he distracts the others. These lights are of an alien warship. This warship lands right in front of them, and out pops one of your kind people. He called himself Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul."  
  
{Who was that?} he asked quickly.  
  
"His name was Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, why?" I asked.  
  
{We is my brother. Where is he? Is he with you?} he demanded.  
  
"Let me finish. Now, these seven kids try to help this andalite, but to no avail. He gave us a great and terrible weapon before he was killed and eaten by a great warlord, Visser Three."  
  
{Any Yeerk Visser is not great.} he slumped. {So he is dead.} he was really depressed. {how could he let such a filthy being end his great legacy?}  
  
"He morphed into what he called an Antarean Bogg and ate him, literally. But you see, before he went, he told us of the great battles that happen between the andalites and the yeerks, and the position the yeerks held here on earth. He gave us the power to morph..."  
  
{He wouldn't!} Aximili spat.  
  
"Oh, but he did, and that was how we got there. You see, those dolphins are humans in morph. We fight together against the yeerks."  
  
{My brother, the great war-prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, is gone, and in his death he left the memory of a great crime. He broke the law of Seerows Kindness.}  
  
"What is that." I asked.  
  
{It doesn't matter. I want to know how you knew I was here.}  
  
"We heard your call." I explained.  
  
{That was meant for andalites only, how did you hear it?}  
  
"Maybe it was because we could morph, I don't know. Anyway, how long until my friends wake up?"  
  
{Maybe thirty of your earth minutes.} he informed me. I did a little calculation and decided that was plenty of time to demorph.  
  
So, for the half an hour that it took for my friends to get up, we chatted about the war and such. He told me about what he did in the meantime. Apparently, he was in the same battle Elfangor was in when he crashed near us. Only he was in the dome of the ship. The dome was a place to go when there was no battling. The andalites were by nature very claustrophobic. They required vast open spaces, and that was why the dome was there. And that was why the chamber we came in had clouds and grass.  
  
He was cut off during the battle and left here in the ocean. All he did was train and such, in between calling for help. There was some computerized stuff in the dome, but not much. So he stayed here, day after day, he trained, hoping to get someone to save him.  
  
He was pretty small, actually. No taller than me, and he looked flimsy.  
  
Eventually, they started waking up, one after another, they came to and demorphed. Before long they were asking questions.  
  
"Is he safe?" Rachel asked me.  
  
"He's fine." I reassured her. "Just as lost as we are."  
  
"So there are no others?" Marco asked. "No big guys, nobody?"  
  
{No, it is only me.} Aximili said.  
  
"And what might your name be?" Rachel asked.  
  
{My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil.}  
  
"Ax." Marco said. "Nice to meet ya." He put on his big, happy person smile.  
  
{It is good to meet you as well. I believe you may be tired from the morphing, so would you mind if I give you all a tour of my home?}  
  
"We should maybe hurry up and try to find a way out of here quickly. The yeerks could be here any minute." I pointed out. Nobody else had any objection to that, so we all took the grand tour.  
  
He showed us around, giving us descriptions of all the different plants and stuff that he had in his little dome.  
  
The asparagus-like derrishoul tree, and some odd description of how the water and land shaped a horseshoe. I wasn't really interested, because my mind was on the yeerks. Any minute they could be busting in here, and killing us all. It was only me who had even thought of something very important.  
  
"Hey Ax, do you even have a morph to get out of here? Like a dolphin or shark?"  
  
{I do not know what a shark is, but I did stun and acquire a creature not unlike the creatures you came here as. It is shorter and has more teeth.}  
  
"That's a shark, I hope. So just be ready when the yeerks get here trying to kill us. They won't be long." I was still urging them to get out of there really fast.  
  
"Oh, don't be such a tight-ass. Relax for a while. If the yeerks were going to find us, they would have already." Rachel said. I almost agreed with her, but I was still cautious. We could get out of here right now, but they were waiting. Why can't we talk later?  
  
Anyway, they continued to talk about anything that came to mind when I heard a light pinging against the glass of the dome.  
  
"Sonar." Marco said.  
  
"The yeerks are here. If you had of listened to me in the first place, we could be gone already. I hope you can morph really fast." I told ax, with a bit of satisfaction in my voice. 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
So this was it? We were trapped in an underwater bubble and the yeerks were on to us. I was thinking as fast as I could, but I had no clue what we were going to do. If they saw a bunch of dolphins swimming away from the dome, they would likely put two and two together and shoot to kill.  
  
"Well, what now, oh mighty Jake." I was rather annoyed, because of them being wimps, we were now trapped.  
  
"We have to get out of here and head for shore." He said simply.  
  
"Easier said than done."  
  
{We should probably be leaving now. I can get you out through the same hatch we came in, but it may be dangerous.} Ax said.  
  
"We don't have many other options, ley's go." Rachel said.  
  
We all ran over to the side of the dome where the door was. We all clambered into is as fast as we could. There was plenty of room, but the andalite seemed a little shaken. I guess it was true, they were claustrophobic.  
  
{I might suggest we morph.} he said calmly. I did just that, morphing incredibly fast. Cassie and I were both finished at about the same time.  
  
{You are both quite talented morphers.} he complimented.  
  
{I know, but now is not the time to worry about that.} I said.  
  
Since we were both finished, I could sense the dolphin's instinct bubbling up beneath my own. Of course, the dolphin was a little claustrophobic itself. It is used to wide, open spaces in the ocean, so it was a little edgy.  
  
Underneath all that, there was the eternal happiness, which I also had to subdue. We needed to be serious this time, we had to move fast. Then, the one thing that would really help me with that, happened. The dolphin could sense a shark. The dolphin did not fear the shark, but it knew the dangers of one and that it was to stay away.  
  
So now the dolphin brain was truly alert. Ax's tiger shark that he had acquired really motivated me.  
  
It took a little while longer for everyone to finish the morph. And when they did, Ax moved his nose and hit a panel and the outer panel opened, throwing us all over with the sudden onrush of water and the decreasing pressure. It almost hurt.  
  
I was disoriented, though, and it took me a good few seconds before I knew where I was and righted myself. {Is everyone okay?} I asked.  
  
{I am fine, now let's get out of here.} Jake said.  
  
{I hear you on that.} Marco said.  
  
{Just don't go up unless you absolutely have to.} Rachel advised. We have seen what the yeerks do to any who oppose them, or even are seen during an operation.} she was right. At our last mission in the deep woods out by the mountains, the yeerks were shooting at any deer or rabbit that moved. It was terrible, but I guess coming from the yeerk's point of view, it was being careful, they had their priorities straight.  
  
{So don't jump, and only go up for air if you absolutely have to.} Whitney suggested.  
  
But I was running out of air now. We all knew this, but we definitely couldn't go up here. They would definitely shoot us here. We at least needed to get a bit farther away.  
  
We just started to swim away when I noticed a tiger shark coming straight at us. It was Ax. I would have slapped myself. Sharks probably have strong instincts, they have been around for ages, and Ax probably hadn't tested it out before.  
  
{AX!} I yelled just as he closed in on me and tried to take a chunk out of me. I dodged and swerved to just barely avoid him. It didn't last long. He spun the other way and almost got a bit of my tail. {Ax! You have to wake up, the sharks mind is taking you over!} he snapped at me one more time before he slowed to a stop.  
  
There was a momentary pause before he said, {I cannot believe I have let the animal take over. It's instincts were so strong.}  
  
{It's okay, Ax.} Cassie tried to comfort him. {It has happened to all of us in the past. Don't worry. Now let's go!}  
  
Ax, obviously feeling a little better, left the subject alone and we all swam quickly away. I had a slight urge to ask him how much he had morphed before. He should be prepared for any situation.  
  
Oh well, it was in the past, and we had a place to go. We all swam, quietly towards the surface. And something dawned on me. There were about three big tanker ships, accompanied by numerous power boats and stuff. Before we even hit the surface, I felt a bunch of things being dumped into the water. I couldn't tell what they were, but I assumed they were some sort of submarines.  
  
{if what you say is true, then these are probably yeerks, correct?} Ax asked.  
  
{Yeah, why?} Rachel answered.  
  
{What typed of controllers do the yeerks use here?}  
  
{Mostly human and hork bajir.} Marco said. {Why?}  
  
{No Taxxons?} he asked cautiously.  
  
{Sometimes.} I said, {Why?}  
  
{I do believe we are going to have to swim a little bit faster.} he answered.  
  
{Taxxons can swim?} Cassie asked.  
  
{Quite well, actually.} he said, quite calmly.  
  
Crap! I thought. That was probably what I heard dumping into the water. There had to be twenty of them all floating in the water.  
  
I finally came to the surface to breathe in a much deserved breath. I was relieved with the air, but devastated to see that along with the three tankers, there were also about six bug fighters and the blade ship all hovering calmly over the water, dropping more taxxons gingerly on the water.  
  
{This is bad, really bad.} I said.  
  
The others all came to the surface to see too. They were also quite surprised.  
  
{They really want to kill you, don't they?} Jake said.  
  
{What is up there. I am afraid I cannot see with this body.}  
  
{Umm, it's about six bug fighters and the blade ship.} Whitney informed him. {Lot's of fun.}  
  
{THE Blade ship? Visser Three's?} Ax asked.  
  
{Yes, now let's go!} I said. I turned away to swim away, but Ax stayed there. {Let's go!} I shouted.  
  
{No, he will kill us all! I must try to avenge my brother.} he yelled back as he swam towards the turbulent waters with the taxxons.  
  
{Get your ass back here, you can do that later, when we have a plan. As for now, we need to get out of here!} Marco yelled.  
  
{No, he killed my brother, I must avenge him now.} he continued towards the taxxons.  
  
{Ax, what are you going to do, splash him? He is way up there in his ship and you are down here, now let it go.} Whitney demanded.  
  
He stopped, but by then, we were too close to the taxxons to avoid it. They were on to us and we had to fight. It was too late to run.  
  
The first of the taxxons started at us and I was surprised to see that they really did move fast in the water. I sped up straight towards it and flipped my tail in such a way that I moved off to the side and beat it in the side with my tail.  
  
WHUMPH!  
  
I could hear a half-impact/half-squishing sound as the Taxxon burst like a balloon. It was gross, thank god dolphins don't really have a sense of smell, or I probably would have been incapacitated.  
  
WHUMPH! WHUMPH! WHUMPH!  
  
Three more people hit their targets. The water was filling up with entrails. It was gross.  
  
I used my speed to ram one more taxxon in the side. I went right through it, with the guts trailing off my fins. That was enough to make you puke.  
  
{Ah, so it is the andalite bandits, here to steal my prize?} I heard Visser three gloat from his blade ship.  
  
{Be quiet, Ax.} Jake commanded, {Don't talk to him, it will just get you angry.}  
  
{He killed my brother, he must pay.}  
  
{No, he must be left until a greater opportunity arises. It is just that simple. Now lets go.} Jake said.  
  
I heard Ax almost growl in thought speech before he turned tail and fled. I was still surrounded by Taxxons. I had to slap them and hit them with my nose to get through them. They were mush more manoeuvrable than they looked, so I had to bust through them. They were really soft, so it wasn't all that difficult.  
  
{Time to go.} I heard Jake call. He was already far away. I seemed to be the only one left behind. It wasn't fair. I swam deeper into the depths, it seemed there were less taxxons there. I was hoping to maybe go under them all.  
  
As it turns out, Taxxons are really floaty. They could swim quite well in a horizontal way, but they struggled when attempting to swim deeper to chase me. Thank god for that.  
  
I swam deeper and deeper, until I was at the bottom, bordering the rim of the valley. I swam as hard and as far as I could until I absolutely had to go up for air. I was just outside of the group of tankers. And this time, I had a visitor. Because right as I surfaced, I could feel something big fall into the water not to far away. 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
Oh, Shit! Was the first thing that came to mind. Judging by the size of the object, it was either a yeerk ship that was made for underwater travel, or it was yet another one of the Visser's special morphs that he acquired on his travels. Either way, it was probably faster than us.  
  
{Guys, you better swim faster!} I yelled to everyone. {We have a guest!} no answer. I was on my own, so I swam as hard as I could toward land. I hoped. I went the same way as everyone else did.  
  
{Where are you going, I need a toy.} the Visser gloated. I didn't talk to him, instead I kept swimming. I was now sure it was a morph, and not a ship. If it was a ship, we would have been caught by now. I hoped the rest of them were okay.  
  
{Where's Gordon?} I heard Jake say in the distance.  
  
{I think he's still back there, we need to save him!} Rachel said.  
  
{Let's go!} I heard Whitney agree.  
  
I turned around to get a look at the Visser's huge body. It was the size of a whale with flippers and fins all over. It was actually really close already. It was scary how close he had gotten in only a few seconds.  
  
Seeing that it was obvious that I was not going to win a race with this thing, I swam right towards it. Let's see if it can turn quickly enough, the gargantuan bastard. Right at the last second, the Visser opened it's massive jaws and revealed row after row of shark-like teeth. The mouth could have eaten me without me touching the teeth, it was that big. I turned to the side and he swivelled his body towards me, almost catching my tail with his huge jaws.  
  
{Come now, the mardrut is not only fast and powerful, it also has incredible reflexes. I dare you to try that again!} he was gloating some more. For some reason, I could just feel myself looking at him funny and having him explode. It was a satisfying feeling, but I needed to deal with what was at hand.  
  
I turned around again to see that he was right on my tail again, so I swam directly to the ground. Once again, he just barely missed me by like less than a foot. {I really don't know what I am going to do with you.} the Visser said almost gleefully, tasting victory.  
  
I swam to the bottom, hoping to throw him off, but instead he kept right up with me, bellies skimming along the sand.  
  
It wasn't long before he was right behind me again, but this time I saw an open opportunity. Not too far away, I saw a small cave in the sand. I echolocated it quickly to judge it's size and safety. Nothing was in it and it was only big enough for me to fit in it. I swam even harder until I was safely inside. It left me plenty of space to move around.  
  
I stopped just before I hit the back of the cave. The Visser hit the opening head on. He didn't make it in. Needless to say, there very soon was a lot of blood creeping throughout the water around the cave entrance.  
  
{AAARGGH!!} the Visser roared. {I will get you, and rest assured, I will kill you. In fact, I believe I will do the same to you as I did to Elfangor. I am really quite hungry after that chase.} he laughed, then stopped moving.  
  
Slowly, he opened his mouth, showing his teeth again. I didn't know what he hoped for me to do, but I wasn't going to try and swim around those gaping jaws like an idiot.  
  
But, I soon got my answer. In the darkness, I could only vaguely see something coming out of it's mouth. I didn't know what it was at first, so I used echolocation. It was like a long snake, coming out of it's mouth. It was a few seconds before I realized, but it was his tongue.  
  
It was slowly creeping it's way into the cave, pushing me to the very back. It was hard to dodge and move around, but I just barely managed to make myself squeeze against the back wall.  
  
I waited there, waiting for the tongue to grab me, but it never did. Instead it was retracted. Apparently it was not long enough. And thank god for that. {So, you have managed to evade me for a little while, but you have been in morph longer than I have, I can wait.}  
  
It was true, but I still had an hour left, easily. So I had lots of time to plan.  
  
Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. You see, dolphins are mammals, and they need air. So I was running out of breath. I would soon need to go to the surface to breathe. I wasn't sure he noticed this, but I would hope to use it to my advantage. I didn't know how, but I would figure it out.  
  
So I laid there calmly waiting for an opportunity to arise, but nothing came. Running out of hope and air, time against me, I called the rest of them. {Anyone, can you hear me? I need help! Anyone?} I yelled. No answer, which was weird, they had said they were coming to get me, to help me. How far ahead could they be?  
  
Maybe they were already killed? What if they had of come back and they were shot out of the water? So many possibilities. {Rachel! Jake! Whitney! Anyone? Sam!} I called as a last desperate attempt. Knowing him, he probably stuck around to maybe get some action, but you never know.  
  
I was about to give up hope. I had no way out. The Visser was there, waiting eagerly for me to make a move, no air, nothing. I had nothing and I was dying the only way I was afraid of. I was an excellent swimmer, but the only way I didn't want to go was by drowning. I would have been panicking, but the dolphin brain was rather relaxed. It was only kind of thinking we should maybe get air soon. The dolphin brain simply wanted to get out of the cramped cave.  
  
So I have just about given up hope, when I could feel a large shockwave rock through the water. And at the same time, I could see a bunch of sharks. Yes, sharks, come in from the side and start chewing on the Visser's many fins.  
  
{Get off me!} Visser Three roared. He turned around and chomped one of the sharks in half. Then he went to the surface, where the shockwave originated. I assumed it was a ship or something exploding. But I didn't have time to ponder it. I immediately swam for the exit and went to the surface.  
  
On my way up, I noticed two things happening. A tanker ship was definitely exploding, and I saw many large beings racing towards Visser Three who was rising to the surface. They each hit him, harder than the last, actually bringing him to come out of the water.  
  
I swam hard towards the surface, dying for a breath, and when I did, it almost hurt. I flew high in the air and saw an amazing sight. One of the tanker ships had erupted in a fireball nd had explosions constantly rocking the surface. There was hardly anything left of the ship.  
  
When I landed, I went back to the surface to look. Dolphins have surprisingly good vision in and out of water. I could see something in the air, lancing beam after beam of red light at the ship, causing the explosions. It stopped for a moment and then it shot another beam on the next tanker, it stayed red until there was another earth shattering shock wave. The other tanker had exploded.  
  
It was Sam, doing the dirty work to let us get away. He was smart, but now he had to get away. I turned tail and fled to the safety of land.  
  
{Time to go!} I yelled back. I kept swimming, hoping to get away as fast as I could. 


	17. Chapter 17 Sam's first

Chapter 17 (Sam)  
  
After they all dove off, me and Tobias talked for a while. There wasn't really much to say. He was kinda worried they would not be able to get anything and this would all be a waste.  
  
"But you had the dreams, same as Gordon and Cassie, so why are you doubtful?" I asked. "You should be happy, I mean, we could get some andalites to help us."  
  
{I know, but there is too much of a margin of error. Anything could go wrong, and we could lose it all. And besides, even if there was andalites, who says they would help us?}  
  
"We have a common goal, to get rid of the yeerks, who says they wouldn't?" I could see where he was coming from, but I could also see them helping us. I mean, they were our allies. What else would they do? Kill us in our sleep. Risks were a part of life. This could be the best thing to happen since we lost our lives.  
  
"Anyway, Tobias, I think you probably need to go back soon. It looks like the boats are just about stopped. They probably have an idea of where it is." I told him.  
  
{Alright, but it will be pretty hard to get home over the water, besides, you said you would take me home when you go.} he complained.  
  
"I said that? Well, I am not going home until I get the go ahead. Something, anything, could happen. So I am staying here for a while." I told him.  
  
{Well, you know where it is, maybe you could take me most of the way home and you can just come right back. How long does it take you to get here?}  
  
Well, had to calculate this. It took me fifteen minutes to fly out here when it was about half this far away. That was my estimate. I was flying really fast and the boat was going fast too.  
  
So I would probably take about half an hour to get home to take Tobias home. "Alright, I will take you home, but if anything happens while I am gone, I am having bird kebabs for supper tomorrow. Come here." I said as I opened my arms so I could hold him.  
  
{Be gentle. These bird bones are fragile and I can't morph to repair them.} he said. Then he flapped up lightly into my arms.  
  
I got up and felt the familiar feeling. It was like having static electricity running through my body. My hair almost felt like it was standing on end, but it wasn't. Plus, I could feel my body restrict. I thought about Tobias and the pressure on my chest loosened up.  
  
{Thanks, I couldn't breathe there for a minute.}  
  
At this point, I simply concentrated on how my body was to move, other than having it move naturally. It took quite a bit more concentration, but it really was worth it in the long run.  
  
Slowly, my body lifted up and I eased my body to a slight angle, so there would be less wind resistance. Let's go!  
  
Slowly I accelerated to something that felt like warp speed. It was probably only about 60-75 mph, but I was in the open air, and it felt like a lot more.  
  
This speed, though, was quite a difficult task to keep up, but as long as I kept concentrating, I could do it forever. If Tobias was to talk to me and distract me, we could very well be food for the fishes at this speed.  
  
I think Tobias knew that, because he didn't talk the entire trip. By the time we got back to the mainland, Tobias was relieved to be rid of me.  
  
{Thanks for the ride, but try to not hold so tight next time. It was rather uncomfortable and the bird in me almost panicked.} he said as he flew off.  
  
He was right, I probably was squeezing pretty hard trying to keep him from falling. Oh well, I had a job to do.  
  
I turned around to go back in the exact direction I came from when I thought about something important. I only had one gun with me. The dracon beams, although will naturally recharge, do eventually run out if used too long.  
  
I looked right back to where came from and backed up until I was over a landmark I could remember over the beach. A big tree, easy to remember. I flew upwards to go as high as I could. Until the air was barely breathable.  
  
The rest of the group says that flying as a bird is the coolest thing in the world. I am sorry, but flying as a human has to be better. It is like you always dreamed it to be, just your body floating in the sky, it was like a dream come true. Being a bird was different. According to Gordon and Tobias, you get a set of instincts along with the body, so you couldn't get too much natural enjoyment out of it. It was probably mostly psychological.  
  
The one thing different is that I can't be as agile in the air. I can't just open my wings and let the wind take over. I actually have to think about it.  
  
Either way, I flew in a straight line to where me and Gordon live. Our own little shack in the woods. When I got there, I immediately went for the hidden stash of guns and weapons. They were hidden in the walls near the roof. Somewhere only I could get. I made it that way, but I never had any intention of keeping them from him if he needed them. But if you think about it, he never really needed them. He always battled in morph.  
  
I had to telekinetically pull the nails out of the wood to get the board off. So, I took two more dracon beams and put them on the hitches on the belt. They stuck there quite well. Then I raised my hand again and the board and nails, now glowing red, were put back in place.  
  
I got out of the house and into the field, where I slowly raised myself off the ground and stated to glide across the trees.  
  
{Have fun!} I heard Tobias call from the house. I could just now see him fluttering in the bell tower. My eyes were really good, along with hearing, reflexes, strength, agility and thinking ability. Unfortunately, this split second concentration lapse from looking back caused me to lose control and fall towards the treetops.  
  
The adrenaline flowed and my instincts took over. I spread my arms and stopped just inched from the treetops. I stood there for a minute, just admiring how quickly I had reacted as I reached out and touched the treetops. I smiled. Nothing could stop me now.  
  
So I got back up and flew towards the empty beach where the tree was. It didn't take me long to find the right Bering, because it was right between two piers out by the harbour. Simple, really. So I gathered up all the concentration I had and flew out towards the battleship.  
  
After about another half an hour, I was surprised to see that there were no tankers anywhere. No boats or airships. I was out of luck, even with my enhanced eyesight, I couldn't see anything. So I flew directly up to maybe get a better view.  
  
I still didn't find anything immediately, and I was starting to get frustrated. I really strained my eyes and went up higher. I could see just a tiny speck of black very far off. I thought that was it, but I wasn't sure. A lot can happen in an hour, maybe they moved, or maybe I got a slightly wrong direction. Either way, I was pretty safe thinking that was what I was looking for.  
  
I focussed again and flew towards the black dot, which very soon revealed itself to be what I wanted it to be. Three tankers and, the blade ship?  
  
Oh, shit, this was about to be interesting. I went down to the water's surface and skimmed along it until I was underneath the back end of one of the boats.  
  
I stayed there, underneath it for another half an hour before anything happened. You see, I was almost nervous, because I heard nothing of any of the rest of the group, and the yeerks seemed to be closing in and confident that this was where they were supposed to be. So I was kind of eager to get something going, but not until I knew it was needed.  
  
After the half hour, something interesting happened. All the big boats started releasing all their little boats ad submarines. Before long, there were boatloads of taxxons being shipped to the water. About twenty of them were in the middle of the three ships. I was just behind the one tanker, hoping not to be seen. Like I said though, there were twenty of them, and they all disappeared beneath the water.  
  
Right before I was about to light up the taxxons, I heard a familiar voice. {Ah, so it is the andalite bandits, here to steal my prize?} he was gloating. I didn't see any dolphins around, but rest assured, they were there. And I knew better than for them to think I was here, so I was essentially on my own.  
  
I stood back and watched as the taxxons fought with a dolphin for a while. The one dolphin in it's own right was doing quite well, bursting and slapping it's way through the soft bellied taxxons. They were exploding underwater like balloons on a sea urchin.  
  
It didn't bother me at first, but after the smell bubbled up and rose above the surface. And I may be the first one to say I can deal with smell, I live with Gordon. But the smell of those guts was just nauseating.  
  
I couldn't stand to be by the water any more, so I rose above and stood on the deck for a while. I could still smell it, but it wasn't as bad up there.  
  
But it wasn't long before I could see Visser Three had become sick of waiting and began to morph. What turned out was a giant purple whale thing with flippers all over it and shark teeth. He only got half of the morph done before falling out of his ship and into the water.  
  
{Guys, you better swim faster, we have a guest.} I heard Gordon say, but there was no answer. He was on his own.  
  
As soon as the Visser finished the morph, he started after the taxxon killing dolphin. It was not long before he had caught up to the dolphin. It was obvious that the dolphin didn't stand a chance.  
  
This was enough. I jumped out of my protection at the back of the ship to see many guards manning the little boats. They were all trying to clean up the taxxon mess without throwing up. It wasn't working. They were puking left right and centre. It was gross, but not as gross as the taxxons.  
  
I raised my first gun and pointed it at the nearest guard. "Okay, it is about time we put an end to this."  
  
That immediately got them moving. They all stared at me and a few raised their guns. I raised my other hand and pushed them all down. Then I moved the dial on the dracon beam with my mind and shot at on man to the next. Only the ones with the guns. The rest were harmless. It was on stun, so they would be fine.  
  
I walked through the crowd, hey all stared at me, but every time they tried for me, I would deflect them away effortlessly.  
  
{Anyone, can you hear me? I need help! Anyone?} I heard Gordon yell again. I would do my best to help him soon, he was fine for now.  
  
In a decent shot of unconcentrated energy, I raised my head and pushed all guards away from me. Apparently, this pissed someone off, because they started calling for backup. I shot the communicator out of her hand before she could finish the call.  
  
She smiled at me evilly. So I smiled right back and shot her in the face. It was still on stun, so it didn't kill her. Lucky for the slug I had a heart.  
  
Almost immediately, though, two bug fighters Came down and released ten hork bajir on the other end of the ship. The bug fighter was too big to move around, so I waited patiently for them all to get to me. It didn't take long.  
  
They all raised their dracon beams at me and started belching out commands. I smiled again. They were trying to hold me up. I 'dropped' my gun and flashed my eyes from one gun to the next, each one flying out of it's holder's grip. They were left with nothing left.  
  
They all stared at each other for a second before they rushed at me. I jumped, flipped and turned around behind them. I got out my other two guns out and blasted four of them away before the human guards grabbed me from behind. I jumped up, using all my energy to get all three of us in the air. I was only ten feet in the air when I flipped backwards, putting the two humans below me. I continued to flip around until my feet were on their backs and they were still holding onto my arms.  
  
I kicked off their backs, making them let me go and having them fall to the ground. I did another backflip, and before I could right myself, two hork bajir guards jumped up and me. I was a mere ten feet in the air, so this was hardly a difficulty for them. I moved my guns around and managed to catch them in midair, making their successors trip over their falling carcasses.  
  
I decided higher was better, so I decided to hover a good fifty feet above the ship's deck.  
  
{Rachel! Jake! Whitney! Anyone? Sam!} I heard him call again. That was my cue. I aimed my gun at the section of the ship that the gas was in. I had read enough tom clancy books to know where was what. I aimed, and shot at full power towards the gas. Even on high, it took a while to go through the metal and blow up.  
  
I was singed from the blast, but needless to say, those who got off the ship early were safe. It mostly blew up and not out. Things did fall though.  
  
After that fireworks display, the two bug fighters started to come after me. They couldn't get at me, because I was too responsive. I went and hovered over to the other one so they wouldn't shoot at me. They still came at me though, so I shot down at the other wreck of a boat. Trying to blow up any and everything in and on it. Not at people though. Not that cold.  
  
Just them, they both rounded out and came at me. I was really smart, and jumped higher and shot at the ships. They got a dual dracon beam through the hull and engine. They fell slightly, colliding with the ship. I flew upwards real quick, to shield from the impending explosion.  
  
Right after the second explosion went BOOM!, Gordon called me again. {Time to go!} he said. He was getting farther away.  
  
Why nobody followed me that day is a mystery, but I guess I didn't really leave them anything to follow me with. There was the blade ship, but I guess that doesn't go anywhere unless Visser three was in it, so it didn't follow me. The third tanker was still just sitting there, not able to do anything to help.  
  
I made it home in one piece, and for that I am glad. But you have to admit. That was pretty fun. 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18(Gordon)  
  
I did eventually catch up to the rest of them. They weren't moving all that fast.  
  
{What ever happened to coming back to save me?} I yelled. Normally I would have just kept quiet and met them at home, but I was mad, and I knew it was them because there was a shark with them.  
  
{What?} Rachel said. {You're alive?}  
  
{I can't be killed, I'm invincible.} I joked. Then got mad again, {Some friends you are. I just about died at hand to Visser three. Actually, at the mouth of him, if it wasn't for Sam destroying the cruisers.}  
  
We all kept quiet and swam as hard as we could to try and get home. We were just doing our best to get home safely with Ax. By the time the two hour limit was just about up, we had to stop to demorph and remorph in the middle of the sea.  
  
{I do not understand, what happened to those sea creatures?} Ax asked. I was surprised to see that he was floating quite well as an andalite in the open sea.  
  
You see, he was a shark and could not see above the water. "Those were not creatures. They were great human warships, and that was my friend, Sam, blowing them up to make a distraction. If It wasn't for him, I would be dead right now." I said as I waded water.  
  
{Oh, I see. Will I meet this Sam?} Ax asked.  
  
"Probably. He lives with me, so I can guarantee he will want to see you. In fact, you will probably end up living with the two of us."  
  
{Oh, no. I do not believe that will be possible.} he said. {I have done some research, and I do not believe I could live in conditions that you humans call home. I also believe that my appearance would startle many of your kind.}  
  
I smiled. "Don't worry Ax, we have just the place. It is perfect for both us and you."  
  
We all remorphed to dolphin and shark. Ax once again had a little bit of difficulty controlling the instincts at first, but at least this time he didn't attack us. We continued to shore until we made it to the remote beach that Sam hid or clothes on. I told him to. Nobody was on it, so it wasn't a problem getting Ax to come to shore.  
  
When we were all standing there, wearing almost nothing, Ax walked up to Jake and extended a hand to his forehead. {With your permission.} he said as he touched Jake.  
  
Jake went a little limp and then Ax retracted his touch. I thought he would look weird in a Jake outfit, but then he also touched Rachel, Cassie, Whitney, Marco, and me. The feeling that I felt when he touched me was weird. It was like I was about ready to fall asleep. Like I was trying my best to stay awake.  
  
So right as he let go of me, he began to morph. His hindquarters shrank and shrivelled into his butt. Then it occurred to me. What sex was he?  
  
I looked away. Others soon followed. "What are you morphing, Ax?" Jake asked.  
  
{I am morphing all of you.} he answered. That baffled me, so I just kept my look at one og the trees, swaying in the cool, ocean air.  
  
"Yes, but what are you, Male or Female?" Marco asked.  
  
"I choose to B-b-b-b-be mmmmmmmmmmmale le. I ch-cho oose to be male, because I am male." He answered in spoken words. That made me wonder, I guess that wouldn't be natural to an andalite, speaking with a mouth.  
  
I still was looking at the tree, I decided to keep it that way. Jake and Marco can deal with it.  
  
"I do not understand the meaning of this." Ax said. "Thhhhhhh- issssss. Sssssss. What are these?"  
  
"These are clothes, Ax. They keep you warm." Jake said. "Whoa, no falling now."  
  
"I am not cold." He answered. "Co-co-old. Cold."  
  
"Stop it! Quit moving." Marco said.  
  
"But I do not understand the need for this clothing. The Temperature is comfortable. Table. Comf-fffff-fort. Ble."  
  
"Let's just say people would be embarrassed if you were to walk around naked." Jake explained. "And please stop playing with your words, it might draw attention."  
  
"But this mouth, it is new to me. I will try to stop."  
  
"Alright, I think he is done. You guys can look now." Marco said.  
  
I turned around and there was Ax. A middle sized boy that looked like none and all of us. His hair, eyes, complexion, build, and everything was a mix of all of us. He didn't really look like he was black, white, tall, short, blonde, brunette, male, or even female. He looked like he could be a preppy boy or a somewhat masculine girl. Apparently he was a guy though. Not like it mattered.  
  
He straightened himself and almost fell on his ass. It was kind of funny. Jake and Marco had to get him back to his feet.  
  
"Sorry." He said. "Two feet are very unstable."  
  
"No problem, we are a pretty unbalanced race." I said.  
  
"Now that I have time to ask, who is your leader?" Ax asked.  
  
We all kind of looked around. We all kind of did all the decisions together. Though we did kind of rely on Jake to make the final decision.  
  
"We don't really have a leader." Cassie said.  
  
"But I guess Jake does qualify." Rachel added. Both taking the words right out of my mouth. Jake just shook his head.  
  
Ax leaned forward, an action that left him face-down on the ground. He pushed his way back up, Jake and Marco right there to help him again. "Your arms are very strong. Stronger than my own." He stood up and slightly nodded his head forward. "I offer my services to you, prince Jake. I am a slave to you and a slave to my people. If I must offer my life, I will gladly do just that, do you accept my services?"  
  
Jake seemed surprised. "Sure" he said. "Just don't act like that on the way, we don't need any attention."  
  
"Yes prince Jake." He said.  
  
"Don't call me prince."  
  
"Yes prince Jake."  
  
And with that we all walked to civilization and caught a bus to Cassie's house. Ax managed to keep his mouth shut the entire ride, until we made it to Cassie's barn.  
  
"So many animals. Do you morph all of them?"  
  
"No, not yet." Cassie said. "Probably one day."  
  
"Where is this place where Gordon and Sam live?"  
  
"Out in the woods. Follow me." I said. "Don't demorph until we are deep in the forest."  
  
"You live in the forest? I thought humans live in buildings?"  
  
"Most people do. We do too, but ours is hidden. You have to understand something right now. We can't be seen in public. The way the yeerks work leave us no other option. They know who we are and if they find us, it is all over. They think we are andalites, and therefore they don't think to look at humans, so as long as we stay covert, we can be safe." I explained.  
  
"I understand, but how do they know who you are and yet they don't think you are the one's morphing and attacking them?"  
  
"You were the one who said it, the andalites would be frowned upon if morphing power was given to humans. So they would not think that of us. Visser three knows better."  
  
"I see. Do we leave now?" He asked.  
  
So we all left, and met up with Sam at the shack half an hour later. Only me, Cassie, Ax, and Rachel went. Jake and Marco went home. Something about wanting supper.  
  
"Hey, Sam!" I yelled as soon as I made it into our little meadow clearing. "We have a guest!"  
  
{Cool, it is an andalite!} Tobias said as he flew down out of the clock tower.  
  
"What? So it is true, there really was one." Sam said as he walked out the front door.  
  
{Yes, I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. I am an andalite.} Ax said.  
  
"We call him Ax for short." Cassie told them.  
  
"Well, he can be called anything he wants, I am just glad he is on our side." Sam said.  
  
We all showed him our little house, and everything in it. Which wasn't much. Not after long, Rachel and Cassie left and went home, leaving just the four of us. Ax indefinitely said he did not want to live inside. He much preferred it out in the open. He ended up living under the big oak. The one that Tobias usually sleeps in. I could see them getting along quite well. I could tell Sam wasn't too impressed with him and I never asked why. I guess I didn't want to hear it, so I could never jinx it.  
  
Anyway, that was the way it was. Ax eventually made himself at home, and we were comfortable having another person helping us in our cause. I knew I was. I never did ask why Sam didn't feel at ease. 


	19. Epilogue

Okay, here we are again. Part four in the Mind Over Matter series. All I can say is wow. I took a lot more time on this one and it still wasn't all that great. Right now, I am working on book 8, and it is coming along quite well. It is the third in a trilogy of four. (don't ask.)  
  
So, let's wrap up the good and the bad. The good, some good fight scenes and it adapted the original story quite well. And for all those who want an alternate storyline, it will happen. Consider the ripple effect. At first, the change of different characters is small, but it gets considerably bigger and bigger.  
  
Runa 


End file.
